


Pink Camellias (I Longed for You)

by baeconandeggs, YatLuvG



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Detectives, Disturbing Themes, Gore, Knives, M/M, Mental Instability, Mention of blood, Minor Character Deaths, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Revenge, Soulmates, Thriller, anxieties, graphic depictions of murder, graphic depictions of murder scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:53:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24633385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YatLuvG/pseuds/YatLuvG
Summary: When Chanyeol got promoted as a Senior Police Officer in Seoul, he wasn’t expecting to receive a serial murder as his first case, nor was he expecting to meet his soulmate; who had disappeared without a trace ten years ago.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 50
Kudos: 398
Collections: BAE2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** BAE816  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** Hello! Firstly, I would like to sincerely thank the bae mods for being so incredibly patience with me despite all the inconveniences I have caused them. I am both grateful and sorry for everything. *bow* To my beta reader; SY, the reason why this fic is even here—thank you! Thank you so much for continuously encouraging me, helping me, listening to my whines and rants, scolding and threatening me. Haha. Without you this fic will not be able to see the brighter days. To my emotional support system; SY and IL, I love you both so much. Thank you for being in this crazy rollercoaster ride with me. Thank you for accompanying me in Spotify. It felt less lonely with you both in there even though we were listening to different playlist. To my prompter, if you ever happen to recognize this prompt of yours, I’m sorry for deviating so much from your prompt. T_T I hope you’ll still enjoy reading them. To my readers, please please read the warnings and tags accordingly before you decided to read my fic or not, although I wish for everyone to read my writing, please do so responsibly. It had been 2 years since I was able to write anything at all, I wasn’t at my best mental space for such a long time and it had been a joy to be able to complete this work. Thank you so much for reading! xoxo

**[[PCILFY's Playlist]](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4tQ3FgEhC6fuvRxRMS3SAk?si=HaQDsn8CRwu0Tm2wEwfpYg) **

_How can I say this without breaking?_

_How can I say this without taking over?_

_How can I put it down into words?_

_When it's almost too much for my soul alone_

**_—Hurt Like Hell; Fleurie_ **

**part one; _scent of death_ **

**_Seoul_ ** **— End of April, 2020**

The sky growled under Chanyeol’s scrutinizing eyes, indicating that there might be a downpour soon, but Chanyeol doubted there would be any rain at all tonight, or so he hoped. It would be a big trouble for his team if it did because sometimes, rain washed away the traces that everyone and everything left behind. That was not a good thing for him.

The night sky was the darkest it had been since May had started. The moon was hiding, and in her absence, the stars were lost. He wondered if she had witnessed the tragedy that had gone down in this place a few hours ago. Perhaps, even less than that because from what had been reported to him a few minutes ago, the dead body that was found less than an hour ago was still borderline warm. However, the blood pooling underneath his body implied that it had been there for quite a while. He was not entirely sure and he wouldn’t be when he was still lingering outside—watching the passer-by gasping and murmuring in terror for the dead—instead of being in the actual perimeter of the murder scene.

Chanyeol’s sigh was unsettling and heavy as he tapped on his phone screen twice before pocketing it back into his jeans back pocket. He took another look at the crowd before he braced himself and entered the crime scene. He just knew it was going to be another long night for him and his team.

The first victim of the serial murders was found a block away from _Seoul Folk Flea Market_ in _Sinseol-dong_. The body was found in a dark alley at the wee hours of the night. It was a man in his late twenty, eyes and mouth wide open as he laid on the dirty pavement with a hole in his chest, bathing in his own pool of blood. The wounds were irregular and rushed as if something was clawing its way in. It was done so frantically and begrudgingly that Chanyeol could actually feel this murderer’s resentment over what he had seen on it; the way the victim’s wrist was sliced countless times that Chanyeol couldn’t tell where the skin and the meat separated. He could only see a mutilated wrist and the bone sticking out oddly, flesh deformed in a way that made it look as if the murderer wanted to wipe off any mark on the victim’s skin. It was horrific and messy.

 _That_ was the first case that greeted Chanyeol since he had reported working at Seoul police division on the first day of March.

He would be fine leading the investigation despite the horrible and gore details of the murder victim if not for the second case that came the following week; this time it was at _Gasan-dong_ , a neighbourhood in _Geumcheon-gu_. There was no correlation between the two crime scenes, not with the second one on the other side of the _Han River._ Everything was the same as the one in _Sinseol-dong_ , except that the murder was done with a bit more grace as if the killer now had better control of themselves. There was nothing graceful about it, though. The victim’s chest was stabbed multiple times to the point that his heart and lungs were smashed, leaving an empty and deep wound that was now filled with the corpse’s cold blood.

The wrist of his second victim was burnt on purpose; it was the only part of the victim's body that had any trace of fire burn. It was done so neatly that Chanyeol wasn’t sure if he’d rather see them burn to the point he could smell the cooked meat or look at them sliced messily like minced meat. He couldn’t decide which one was worse than the other.

“The victim has been identified as Ahn Pil Sung, a 25-year-old man. He worked at the inconvenience store near the train station. I believed he was on his way home from work when this happened,” Sehun reported to him as soon as he set foot at the crime scene. Both of them ducked beneath the yellow tape that was blocking the public from getting near the crime scene.

“All of them are men in their late 20s,” Chanyeol acknowledged with a frown. “What about the wounds on his chest?”

“Identical to the second one. It’s not as messy as the one in _Sinseol-dong_ , but it still isn’t a clean cut.”

“Any indication that the murder might take place in a different place?” Chanyeol asked as he stretched the latex gloves and fit his hand in it.

“Negative for now. Every evidence we have at the moment indicating that this is the murder scene. But we could always cross-check and do a more detailed study to see if there are any possibilities for that to happen,” Sehun provided smoothly, already well versed in how detailed Chanyeol was with his work after just a month of working under him.

“And the wrist?”

“About that…” It was Sehun’s turn to frown, brows furrowed as both of them stopped in front of the corpse. “It was pretty much the same as the last two cases. They went for the right hand’s wrist, exactly where the pulse is. But it was not sliced nor burnt this time.”

Chanyeol cocked his right eyebrow at that answer. “Elaborate.”

“Acid,” Minseok; the forensic team leader kindly provided as he pulled himself up from his crouching position next to the victim's corpse.

Chanyeol turned to look at the man with a deepened frown.

_Acid?_

“The murderer used acid to burn the skin around the wrist area. A less messy method, if you ask me, compared to using a knife to slice the skin or kerosene and fire, which required a lot more work.”

“He’s getting more creative with his murder’s tools,” Chanyeol commented before he crouched down beside the corpse and examined the victim’s wrist. “That’s never a good sign.”

“He’s going to commit more murder.” Sehun pursed his lips in a thin line, his eyes were fixated on the victim’s cold dead body.

“He’s creating a pattern right now,” Chanyeol concluded as he got up. “Get someone to dig more about all of our victims. I need their files with everything you can find about them, from their everyday routines to the paths and roads they take daily and the people they interact with, especially the close ones. Getting to know our victims will be a step forward in knowing who our serial murderer is.”

Sehun nodded. “Sure, hyung. I will get them on it as soon as possible.”

Chanyeol patted Sehun’s shoulder in gratitude before he turned to the forensic team leader again. “Minseok, do we know what kind of acid that our murderer might use?”

“From what I could gather tonight, it might be sulphuric acid.” Minseok was fast on his one knee. He lifted the victim’s now cold hand carefully. “It’s just a guess for now but there’s a pungent smell here, not necessarily noticeable. But if you’re this close with the victim, you’ll smell it.”

Both Chanyeol and Sehun bent their bodies forward to get as near as they could to the victim’s lifted hand. They both shared a look before focusing their attention back to Minseok.

“And Chanyeol, can you guess how bad the burns on his wrist are?” Minseok asked with a slight smirk, challenging the investigation team leader with his usual playful nature.

Chanyeol responded with a roll of eyes before he examined the burn marks and answered, “That’s a third-degree burn.” His jaw tightened when he realized where the man was aiming to go from here.

“A drop of the acid is enough to irritate your skin, but I have a feeling that our murderer knows his way around chemicals and acids. He made quite a perfect mixture of lye solution, enough to cause this much damage on the skin. Also, sulphuric acid is a powerful dehydrating tool. That might explain the condition of the victim’s hand.” The hand, now ashen and cold, was dry.

“I have taken a sample of the water from that small puddle, a few centimetres away from where the wrist was originally found lying down. Hopefully, it’ll give us more leads on the case,” Minseok added.

“But I thought sulphuric acid reacts wildly with water, isn’t the murderer taking too much risk here? What if it backfired and spit on him?” Sehun asked.

“Well, that will happen if he pours water into the acid but not the other way around, Oh Sehun. Like I said, he knows his way around.”

“Phew.” Sehun slouched his broad shoulders and clapped his hands a bit too enthusiastically. “That’s enough chemistry lesson for me tonight. I’ll get our men to find out more details on our victims, hyung,” he said to Chanyeol quickly before tilting his head and said, albeit too sweetly, “I’ll see you at the lab tomorrow, Minseok hyung!”

“ _…or never_ ,” he added.

Chanyeol scoffed amusingly as he watched Sehun take a run for it. “That kid.” He shook his head fondly and turned to a reflection of the same fond smile on the other’s face. Minseok had placed the victim’s hand back to its original position.

“He’s cute but a very skillful detective for sure. You’re doing a good job with him in such a short time. He was never that compliant with his old superiors.”

“That’s not on me. That’s all him.”

The forensic leader smiled cheekily as he removed the latex gloves and slapped Chanyeol’s chest with the back of his palm. “Yah. Give yourself some credits, will you?”

Minseok was one of his seniors during his years in the police academy. While the older man is a very trustworthy and diligent person with his work, his habit of teasing and making Chanyeol feeling exceptionally flustered for no reason was still pretty much strong. Truthfully, he couldn’t believe his luck when he reported at the main office.

Chanyeol shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling flustered all of a sudden. “So, can I expect a complete autopsy report by tomorrow? Or do you need more time for this one?”

“Changing the subject, I see…but to answer that, I might need more time. This one seems like it will need a more detailed autopsy. I’ll cross-check this with the autopsy results of all victims for you as well. We’ll see if I could find any lead for you.”

“Ah, that’s my best forensic!” Chanyeol gasped dramatically while placing his wide palm on his chest, exactly where his heart was beating. “Always taking my best interest in everything you do.”

“Shut it.” The older man rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed.

“Have I told you how much I love and care for you, Minseok hyung?”

“No, and I don’t care enough to know,” he replied curtly while walking past the tall detective. “My team already gathered everything that we need from here. You may have them clear this place.”

Chanyeol laughed softly while shaking his head. “Sure, chief!”

***

Chanyeol wondered if Ahn knew he was being followed if he knew that his life would end in a random back alley tonight, bleeding to death. He thought about what could be Ahn’s last thoughts as he took his last breath. What could be the last thing that came into his mind as he watched the knife buried itself on his chest; would he think of why he didn’t catch the warning signs before it was too late, or would he think of someone and the last words he said to them?

Chanyeol knew that Ahn fought for his life until his last breath because the dirt on his clothes and face showed that he did not succumb to his fate easily. He could see that the killer was struggling to complete his task. He had underestimated people’s will to live in the last seconds of their life; when your life flashed by like lightning, fast yet clear as the day while death roared like thunder before the storm, loud and abrupt.

It was long past midnight and everyone had left, leaving the persistent Chanyeol on his own. The map of every CCTV surrounding the crime scene area was on his phone screen, begging for him to find them.

Chanyeol’s long legs took a stride down the empty road while his mind was busy calculating and deducing the paths not taken by the victim. He was aware that he was in a race against time. He needed to be one step ahead of the killer, if not a step behind, or face losing the battle before it even truly began. Minseok had told him before he left that Ahn could be the fastest victim to be found amongst the three.

 _Rigor Mortis_ or _post-mortem rigidity_ is the third stage of death. When you die, the chemical in your body muscles will undergo changes where it leads to the stiffening of your limbs, and it can take place as soon as four hours after death. Ahn Pil Sung’s body was just about to enter this stage when the forensic team arrived. This could only mean that he was probably dead for less than four hours only. It gave Chanyeol high hopes that he could find even the smallest trace of the killer.

The night winds were cold as they seeped into his skin, reminding him of the chills that might have run down the victim’s spine as he tried to flee from death’s grasp, only to trip and fall to his reaper’s trap.

Chanyeol stopped walking and stood under the flickering street lights. The walk had led him to a narrow junction separating three small roads. There were boxes left beside a knocked down garbage bin as if someone had knocked it over in a rush, judging by how some of the boxes were stepped and kicked out of what Chanyeol presumed as their original place.

He stood still and stared right across him, at the street lamp presenting itself proudly to him, a CCTV attached to its concrete pole. He glanced at his phone screen briefly, looking over the coordinate of the CCTV location on the map. His fingers made a quick move over the screen to pull up a contact before he dialed the said number.

“Junho, hey. You’re working on your night shift?” Chanyeol greeted, his eyes were back to the CCTV across him as if him staring a hole in it would get him what he wanted. “Can you get this CCTV coordinate for me? I need your help with something.”

From a hidden corner, a shadow moved, walking away with rage in his silent steps.

***

_“_ — _soulmate.”_

Make them stop.

 _“_ — _fate…wrist.”_

Please.

_“…curse…!”_

Stop!

_“Let’s die together then!”_

“No!”

His lurching heart jolted him awake, leaving the echo of his own voice shouting in his sleep, like a broken record playing in his head.

It was always the same nightmare, the same words, the same voices, shouting to each other at the top of their lungs, the same persistent pains. It was as if he was stuck in an unbreakable loop. One after another. There was no stopping it.

By the time he finally got a hold of himself—resurging back into the realm of living—he was already drenched in sweat. He remembered, almost vividly, how in his dream, for a very brief moment, the line between life and death blurred and he wished, he had wished, that he had fallen into the side where everything ended.

He let out a painful groan when he placed a careful hand on the left side of his head. The ghost of sharp pain lingered for as long as it wanted as if it was just yesterday that everything happened. It had been 10 years, he ought to forget it by now, but he didn’t.

He blinked away the unshed tears before he glanced at the clock on his bedside drawer.

_4:00 am._

It had been a while since the last time the nightmare visited him. He couldn’t help but wonder what had changed.

_Soulmates._

Such a heavy word for someone like him to carry. His left hand rubbed his bandaged right wrist by instinct, and there it was, the stinging pain again. It occasionally came, like an uninvited guest on a winter night, bringing in cold from the outside when they invaded his safe haven.

And he could do nothing but to let them in, unwillingly.

To Baekhyun, life was full of broken things, and he learned to live with what was left and the used-to-be. The heart that was once whole, now beat in pieces.

Most of the time, he kept to himself. Hiding behind a smile and slanted puppy eyes. He was a man with a lot of secrets, but he wasn’t cold. He was warm like a summer breeze, refreshing and welcoming with a smile that melted your heart. Perhaps, that was the reason why despite the secrets he had hidden under his sleeves, people still stayed by his side, craving for the warmth that he offered.

The dawn was slowly approaching when Baekhyun had reached his coffee shop. The sun, hiding somewhere at the end of the horizon, waiting for his time to shine. It was still dark outside, but Baekhyun had always enjoyed his early morning and late-night walk in the dark. For someone who had lost his light, darkness was his companion.

He had long forgotten his fears of the dark.

He was wiping the glasses and mugs while humming along to Lee Hi’s Breathe when Kyungsoo walked in with hands full of their fresh raw stocks. His thick black-rimmed glasses looked a bit crooked, but it didn’t seem to concern him. Jongdae had clocked in earlier and was mildly surprised when he caught Baekhyun drinking his hot coffee in silence by the counter. He ended up deciding to start mopping the floor because apparently, Jongin forgot to do so when they closed up the shop.

“I think it’s going to rain today,” Kyungsoo blurted out right after the door behind him closed itself, catching both Baekhyun’s and Jongdae’s attention. Before Kyungsoo even got to put the groceries bags on the counter, the rain poured like a bucket of water being splashed onto the ground.

“Well, that’s earlier than expected.” Baekhyun deadpanned while he eyed the heavy rain outside. It seemed like it would be an easy morning for all of them.

“Baekhyun, no offense—”

“Offense taken,” Baekhyun cut Jongdae’s words smoothly, eyes still trained on the rain as he spoke. The 30-year-old man whined from his spot in between tables and upside-down chairs, the mop’s handle tight in grasp.

“We’ve been listening to this song for an hour already. Are you planning to change the playlist anytime soon?” Jongdae asked with a pout only a man his age could pull off.

Baekhyun threw a glance at him briefly.

_It's alright if you run out of breath,_

_No one will blame you._

_It's okay to make mistakes sometimes,_

_Because anyone can do so._

“It’s a solid _no_ for you,” he answered curtly, resulting in more whines and painful pouting.

Kyungsoo frowned at the exchange. He turned to the brunette who was pretending to be busy with his clean glasses and mugs.

“Another nightmare?” he asked quietly.

Kyungsoo watched, as Baekhyun’s face wavered for a slight few seconds before he looked up with a tired yet reassuring smile at Kyungsoo.

“I just feel like listening to the song,” he offered.

Kyungsoo looked down at his hands on the wooden counter. A half-smile adorned his face as he looked back to his friend. “You probably had your coffee already but would you like a chamomile tea?”

“That would be great, Soo.”

Kyungsoo nodded softly, satisfied with the mirrored smile on his friend’s face. He was about to lift the grocery bags and began his morning routine at the shop when Jongin burst through the door. The cold breeze slithered in sneakily, sending shivers to the occupants of the shop. Droplets of water from Jongin’s wet shoes and pants, creating small puddles on the floor.

“Yah, Kim Jongin! I just mopped that spot!” Jongdae groaned. Today had started badly for him, it seemed.

“Have you heard? Mr. Ahn died last night,” the youngest dropped the bomb and took out a pretty much dry newspaper from inside his coat.

“Which Mr. Ahn?” Jongdae enquired as he tried to put a face on the name.

Baekhyun stopped wiping the mug in his hand and looked at the young man in his long brown coat by the front door.

“Ahn Pil Sung?” he asked under his breath.

Jongin stepped closer to the counter and put the newspaper right in front of Baekhyun.

“It was the guy who only wanted to drink coffee that Baekhyun hyung made,” Jongin kindly provided.

“What happened?”

It was Kyungsoo who asked, not Baekhyun, as Jongin had expected. His oldest hyung looked like he had clocked out, soul and mind absent, despite being there with them.

“It was a murder.”

Jongdae walked closer to his friends and took the liberty to read through the news for them.

"The police are saying that this might be related to the murder in Sinseol-deong and Geumcheon-gu," Jongdae read out loud. "A serial murder?" He shuddered just by the mere thought of it.

"I can't believe this. He came to our cafe yesterday, right?" Jongin asked.

Kyungsoo stole a glance at Baekhyun before he answered, "He did." A nod." Baekhyun made his usual coffee fix before his shift."

" _Five stabs._ "

Everyone turned their attention back to Jongdae, whose face was now slightly pale. "He was stabbed five times, and they said the fourth one was the one that killed him." He gulped. "How can people be this terrifying?"

Baekhyun grabbed the newspaper from Jongdae's hand and placed it on the counter.

"Stop reading that already." His usual calm face was frowning when he looked at the newspaper's headline. It was hard to mourn over someone you hardly knew, but he would be lying if he said it didn’t make his heart heavy, knowing the victim was someone familiar to them. It left a disdainful feeling, one that they couldn't possibly process as quickly as they wanted to.

"The murder scene was like a few blocks from here," Jongin muttered with worries lacing thick in his voice.

Baekhyun knew. He could already sense what was bothering the younger man's mind.

He sighed.

"I'm not going to take a taxi. My place is just three blocks away, that would be a waste of money."

"How did you even know what I'm about to say?" Jongin whined, annoyed by how sharp Baekhyun could sometimes be. He leaned forward and pressed his cheek on the wooden surface of the counter, sulking.

Kyungsoo reached out and stroked Jongin's wet hair, letting them dance in between his fingers.

"Jongin has a point, though, Baek. It's dangerous," Jongdae chided in. He knew how stubborn Baekhyun could be, but trying to knock some sense into his friend's head wouldn't hurt, right?

Baekhyun smiled tenderly, feeling warmth by the concerns shown by his friends for him.

"The police are investigating it now, aren't they? I'm sure they'll catch the killer soon. Let's not start panicking over this yet. And if it worries all of you so much, maybe we can close the cafe early?"

The three of them shared a look with each other before nodding their heads in agreement.

"That's hardly a good solution, but I'll take that for now," Jongdae said.

"You really hate taking the taxi, don't you?" Kyungsoo commented, causing Baekhyun to let out a small chuckle.

"It's too troublesome."

"It's _convenient_ , Byun Baekhyun," Kyungsoo retorted with a judging face. His older friend always had weird reasoning, and they baffled him sometimes.

"Now, now, if we really do want to close up early, shouldn't it be only right if we open up early too?" Baekhyun suggested, clapping his small hands enthusiastically, a smile adorned his pretty face.

"I knew you were going to say that!" Jongin accused. Kyungsoo couldn't help but laugh at Jongin’s disbelief expression.

"We should get ready for the cafe's opening," Baekhyun announced with a teasing smile. He started to put away the cleaned glasses and mugs. "Jongin, go and change your pants. You're wetting the floor. Jongdae will have to mop them again later." Baekhyun turned to his friend who was hugging the mop's handle with his right arm. "Thank you for your hard work, Dae."

"Uh—uh yes, no problem," Jongdae stuttered, stunned by Baekhyun's sweet smile directed to him.

"Kyungsoo, I will bring these to the kitchen. Let's prepare breakfast for everyone."

Kyungsoo smiled. "Sure, Baekhyunnie."

They watched in silence as Baekhyun walked into the kitchen, leaving the three of them at the front. It was only after Baekhyun's back disappeared behind the now closed door that Jongin's curious voice broke the silence.

"That's weird," he commented.

"What's weird?"

Both Jongdae and Kyungsoo turned away from the door leading to the kitchen and looked at Jongin who was now holding the newspaper.

"The news didn't mention his soulmate," Jongin pondered thoughtfully.

"It isn't really an important point to include in the news, maybe," Kyungsoo suggested.

"Well...yeah. I don't know why that bothered me."

Jongdae frowned at that new information. "Ahn has a soulmate?"

"Mm." Jongin nodded. "I saw his soul mark by accident the other day." He paused. "You know how he always wore long sleeves regardless of the weather? He accidentally knocked down his iced coffee the other day, and I saw his mark. It circled his right wrist like a bracelet. Pretty mark."

"Circled?" Kyungsoo asked. "That means he had found his soulmate already."

"Yes," Jongin chimed. "Like us," he said softly as he reached for Kyungsoo's right hand, wrapping the other's wrist with his fingers.

Jongdae rolled his eyes at the sudden display of affection in front of him.

"Anyway, why would he want to hide his soul mark?"

"Some people don't want a soulmate, Jongdae." Kyungsoo lowered his voice, head bursting with thoughts of someone.

"That's sad...I can't imagine what I'd feel if my soulmate doesn’t want me." Jongdae frowned at the thought of it.

"Mm... we shouldn’t talk about this here. Baekhyun—"

"Kyungsoo?" the said man interrupted Kyungsoo from finishing his sentence. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened before he rigidly turned around, awkwardly looking at Baekhyun's head peeking out from behind the door, looking questioningly at his fellow friends' surprised faces.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Baekhyun tilted his head when he received no answer.

"It's nothing!" Jongdae sputtered, smiling awkwardly while hugging the mop tighter.

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the three of them before looking at Kyungsoo again. "Are you coming?"

"Uh—yes, I'll come now." Kyungsoo cleared his throat. He glared accusingly at the other two and walked away to the kitchen.

"Do you think he heard us?" Jongin whispered timidly.

"I hope he didn't..."

"Jongin, why are you still there?" Baekhyun hollered from the kitchen, causing the young man to gasp loudly.

Jongin looked down at the puddle of water formed around his shoes and smiled at Jongdae sheepishly. "Sorry, hyung. I'll get changed now."

Jongdae eyed the wet floor and sighed. "It's okay, Jongin. I got this.” He dropped the mop and started to clean the floor. “Now scramble."

The younger man did not waste any more time and sprinted toward their staff room. Baekhyun always made sure they kept clean clothes in their locker in case they needed any change of clothes while working.

“Jongin, don’t put your wet clothes in your locker! That’s going to smell like hell later!” Jongdae yelled after a few seconds passed.

“I know that. I’m not a kid!” Jongin yelled in return.

Jongdae chuckled to himself as he continued to mop the floor. The rain was getting heavier outside. He wondered if there would be any customers at all this morning.

***

They closed early that night when the street was still occupied by wandering souls of people who either sought for a short escape before the day ended or on their way to have a nice rest at home. But unlike the usually almost dead street when they were closing up, the place looked alive.

The boys still tried to persuade Baekhyun into getting a taxi, but all attempts were shrugged off by the older man. He simply nagged them to continue their work instead of wasting time on him.

Baekhyun turned the key to lock the grill gate, the metal clanking to one another as he dropped the lock. He dusted his hands on his black slack as gently as he could and turned around to three men staring at him like he had grown a second head.

He chuckled.

“I’m still not taking the taxi. Just drop it.”

Jongdae sighed dejectedly alongside Jongin. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, simply shook his head disapprovingly. “You should get going then, Baek.”

Baekhyun’s ears perked up. “You guys are not leaving too?”

“We will.” Jongdae gestured his hand politely towards Baekhyun. “After you leave. So take the honour and leave first, please.”

Baekhyun couldn’t help himself then. His boisterous laughter drowned the muffled music from the nearby shops. He was used to Jongdae being a gentleman; it was one of the man's strong traits. But to see his close friend offering a rather polite smile while gesturing him to leave with such a polish posture cracked him up.

“You guys are so dramatic.” He took his time to calm down from his laughing streak then stepped forward to pat fondly on each of his friends’ heads. “I’ll see all of you tomorrow, then?” It was more like a statement rather than a question, and they hummed in agreement.

“Please let us know when you have reached your home safely,” Jongin reminded him. Baekhyun smiled at the kind thought. Sometimes he forgot that Jongin was the youngest one with how he was behaving around him most of the time.

“O-ho. I feel like I’m having three loving boyfriends right now.” Baekhyun blinked his eyes teasingly, a soft beam adorning his small face before he turned his back to them and waved them off with one hand. “Goodnight, kids. I’ll talk to all of you later!”

“Be safe, Baekhyun!”

They watched him walk further away from them without another word. His broad back disappearing in every step he took, whistling his way home.

“He’s so stubborn,” Kyungsoo muttered.

“Do you think we are overreacting?”

Jongin was leaning his body on Kyungsoo, letting the smaller man support him with his hand around the younger man’s waist.

“After what happened last time, I’m not risking it again.”

Jongdae narrowed his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of Baekhyun from afar, but the man had already disappeared behind the music store building; that one instrument store that Baekhyun casually dropped by sometimes because he loved playing them.

“If I offered to walk him home, he’d have my head before my shift even ends.” He pursed his lips, annoyed that he knew he spoke the truth. His friend would never allow him to do that.

Jongin’s laughter was soft beside him. “Wouldn’t want that to happen to you now, wouldn't we?”

“He’s so full of secrets for someone who’s really bad in keeping them.”

“Well, he doesn’t know that yet. So let’s keep it that way until he’s ready to tell us.” Kyungsoo nudged on Jongdae’s arm gently. The latter only sighed in return.

“Let’s go home. I need a long and relaxing bath right now.” Jongdae stretched his arms and yawned, taking the first step away from their coffee shop. The other two followed him closely behind while still being attached to each other. Jongdae only scoffed when he caught a glance at both of them but didn’t say anything else as they walked to the train station.

***

Baekhyun stopped whistling after making a turn beside the music store. He knew that his friends wouldn’t be able to see him from here on. He straightened his body and sneaked his hands in his loose jacket’s pockets. The night was cold, and he was never really good at dealing with such weather.

_Ahn Pil Sung was dead._

He didn’t say anything much back in the shop because then, he would have to open up more to them, and it was not a burden he was willing to share with others. He knew Ahn more than their other regulars at the shop, although not as close as friends should be but enough to call him an acquaintance.

That man reminded Baekhyun of himself, with his secret hidden under his long sleeves, and the sad smiles he usually threw at him when he handed him his coffee. They shared quite a similar past, Ahn had told him before while he was delivering his coffee to his table, on one of those rare days where he actually dined in.

_“I ran away from my soulmate. Left her confused and lost, because the only person she thought would be by her side forever, couldn’t even look at himself in the mirror without feeling worthless.”_

_“She didn’t do anything wrong. I left because I’m unworthy of her love.”_

Baekhyun dragged a shaky breath in, shuddering as he was reminded of the sudden confession from the man who was usually quiet in their encounters. Baekhyun didn’t dwell much on it, but he could guess what had led the man to open up to him. He had noticed Ahn’s constant glances on his bandaged wrist since the first day he had walked into their shop. Ahn had never commented on it, he’d just simply throw words here and there when there had been only two of them, and Baekhyun would listen with a few nods and words. He had never known Baekhyun’s story like Baekhyun had known his, and now that he was dead, Baekhyun felt guilty for not completing the bond that the other had discreetly offered to him.

Sharing a burden with a stranger perhaps would be better than carrying them on his own.


	2. Chapter 2

**part two; _pink camellia_ **

**_Seoul_ ** **— End of April, 2020**

“Minseok hyung!” Sehun called out from behind.

He walked up to the older man with a smug smile on his handsome face. His hands were secured in his slacks pockets. Minseok paused in the middle of the long corridor. He was wearing his lab coat, his employee tag hidden behind his coat upper pocket.

“What do you want, brat? I’m busy.” Minseok pushed his glasses up against the bridge of his nose with his middle finger before resuming his walk.

Sehun gasped, scandalized with what the older man had just discreetly gestured towards him.

“You are so vulgar, hyung! I was just greeting my sunbae.”

“No, you’re not. Especially not with that smug look on your face,” Minseok spat. He quickened his pace as they made a right turn at the end of the corridor, walking to the path leading them to the laboratories section.

“Anyway hyung, I’ve already submitted my reports. Are you done with yours or is the post mortem holding you back?” Sehun wiggled his eyebrows childishly.

Minseok scoffed. He knew the young detective was up to no good the moment his name was called.

“Way ahead of you. Handed it over to Chanyeol myself this morning.” Minseok paused, smirking like a mischievous feline. “By hand.”

Sehun stopped walking abruptly and whined, “You could have just let me win just once, hyung!”

Minseok knocked his knuckles on Sehun’s forehead. “No one’s competing with you.”

Sehun rubbed his forehead with lips stretching downward like a sulking child. “Did you see Chanyeol after that?”

“He told me he was going home to get some rest.”

Sehun smacked his lips loudly while he leaned on the wall just beside Minseok’s team lab. “He pulled another all-nighter, didn’t he?”

The older man smiled. “Bingo. He was going through the CCTV footage with Junho.”

Sehun sighed. “He’s going to age much earlier than you at the rate he’s going right now.”

Minseok nodded in agreement before his head jerked up, only catching up with what Sehun had meant a few seconds late. “Yah, you rude brat! What do you mean by that?”

Sehun’s giggles echoed in the empty corridor, the sound bouncing off the white wall of the lab’s section.

***

Chanyeol almost crawled, dragging his heavy body lazily on his queen size bed, right after he pulled up a boxer and grabbed a clean wife-beater from the closet. He didn’t even bother to dry his hair. It was left damp, soaking on his fluffy pillow as he pressed his cheek deeper on it. He could hear his mother’s voice, nagging in the distance about him getting sick, but she wouldn’t find out. He moved out of his family’s house for a reason. Making his mother worried for him 24/7 a day wasn’t exactly exciting.

Chanyeol hummed in content. It felt good to be reminded of how comfortable an actual bed felt like. He was about to drift into sleep when something caught his attention from the crack of his half-lidded eyes; tiny camellia flowers crown wrapped around his wrist. They started from the biggest one on top of his pulse, then duplicated into smaller tiny flowers around his wrist until they met the other end—like a bracelet.

They used to be pink in colour; pretty and soft against his pale skin. He got teased a lot as a child because a boy with a build like him, having a pink flower etched on his skin like a tattoo, didn’t really make him sound _manly_. He used to _hate_ it, resenting it for what it brought upon him. It was the childish part of him who had wished for it to be gone, or for the colour to be anything but pink. Red was better, perhaps. Blue was cool, too. But now that the colour had turned grey, fading like it was hiding from him, it made his heart ache with longing and guilt—of what, he was not quite sure.

He scoffed, closing his eyes once again as his thoughts ran wild.

The longing was exactly what the flower had meant. He was destined to long for someone his whole life, tirelessly reaching for the ghost of his yesterdays to no end.

It didn’t take long for sleep to claim him. He was pulled into a dream of addictive giggling and rectangular-shaped smiles. Of beautiful dainty fingers tracing the mark on his wrist gently. He unconsciously reached for his wrist and rested his fingers on the faded mark, finding comfort from it even in his sleep.

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— Early May, 2020**

Flowers reminded Baekhyun of humans but with colours and smell: vibrant, soft, and refreshing. Sometimes calming, or saddening, others wild and fierce. There were the dull ones too. And just like humans and their personalities, flowers were blessed with their own. Baekhyun learned the language of flowers when he first discovered the meaning behind the flowers inked permanently on people’s wrists.

_Soul mark._

Not everyone was born with a soulmate. Some were lucky to be blessed with a love who matched them, inside and out. While others were given the freedom to choose their life partner on their own free will.

These people—the _soulmates_ —carried their respective marks on their wrists. A beautiful flower just above their pulses. They shared the same flower with their soulmates, and when fate aligned their paths with each other, the marks would be brought to life, moving and reaching their other half until they formed a bracelet around their bearer’s wrist.

It had been a fascinating concept for young Baekhyun. He had found it enthralling by how the flowers bloomed prettily when the soulmates reached their adolescent. Like their bearer, the mark grew and flourished by times. And once it did, it would continue on blossoming on every beat the pulse had—a sign of a very much alive soulmate string. A symbol of a fateful bond written in heaven for the lucky ones—that was how he used to view the marks. It was supposed to be a beautiful thing, something that not everyone was blessed with, yet it hadn’t felt like that for him for a very long time now.

Baekhyun leaned forward with his eyes closed, halting midway and gently inhaled the lovely smell of the scented primrose. The mild fruity aroma filled his lungs, and he hummed, feeling content with the small gesture.

“You look like you’re sucking the life out of my flowers, Baekhyun.” A soft voice interrupted him. Baekhyun forced his eyes open, chuckling as he was met with the amused eyes of the florist. “Have some mercy on them, please.”

“Perhaps that’s what I’ve been doing the whole time I was here.” Baekhyun’s eyes glinted with mischief, yet the florist before him grinned back at him.

“That would answer why you still have that baby face despite reaching 30 this year,” the florist said, amused by Baekhyun’s witty answer.

“Well, this face was a gift from my parents. The flowers only help to keep it going.”

Yixing, the florist with beautiful dimples, laughed as he shook his head fondly. He was used to Baekhyun’s cheekiness. Baekhyun had been his loyal customer ever since he had moved to this side of the town two years ago.

“So… pink camellia, huh?” Yixing deliberately pondered over it for a second, looking expectantly at the other as he wrapped the flowers with care.

Yixing knew that Baekhyun rarely, or rather never, requested for the said flower. The latter was rather well-versed with the flower languages and often chose his flowers based on his mood, or whatever was occupying his mind at that time. That was how much he had learned about this peculiar customer of his. He watched as Baekhyun tilted his head, eyes set on the bouquet of pink camellia now lying on the table. The smile Baekhyun had previously was slowly fading the more he looked at those flowers.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun finally spoke up, breaking the momentary silence. A small frown creased his forehead as he was reminded of a painful memory.

_“Do you like pink camellia flowers? They’re so pretty, right?”_

_“They are not really my favourite.”_

_“…oh.”_

“I had a dream about them last night and thought I should get some for the shop.” Baekhyun looked up at the florist with a vibrant smile on his face—as if he didn’t just frown, painfully so, a few seconds beforehand—catching Yixing off guard but the florist simply smiled in return.

“You’re longing for something that you see in that dream, I supposed?”

Yixing quirked an eyebrow when Baekhyun burst into laughter.

“Maybe I just want a pink flower,” Baekhyun mused, pink lips naturally forming a pout as he spoke. “Stop trying to interpret me from the flowers I bought, Yixing hyung. Seriously, I might change my florist if you continue behaving like this.” He crossed his hands across his chest.

Yixing whistled his way to the counter with the flowers in his arms. “Well, if that’s so. I dare you to find a better florist than me, then. Now, pay up Byun Baekhyun.” He outstretched his open palm to the man in front of him.

Baekhyun laughed but still handed the cash to Yixing. “ _Touche._ ”

***

“I can’t believe that we didn’t notice this earlier,” Chanyeol groaned as he slammed the thick file on his desk; it was the compiled reports that he had asked from Sehun less than a week ago.

Sehun, who was sitting in front of him, rubbed his neck nervously. He was not used to a frustrated Chanyeol yet. His team leader was usually well collected, composed even when he tended to drown himself with workloads. But Chanyeol hardly lost his temper despite the pressure from the higher-ups.

“So, is it confirmed that all of the victims have one thing in common?”

“Yes, sir. I have confirmed everything before I put them on the report.” Sehun straightened his back and licked his dry lips out of habit.

“Why didn’t we catch this much earlier?” Chanyeol pressed his hand harder on his desk. His stomach churned and twisted uncomfortably at the mere thought of how much his incompetency had cost them. “It took us three deaths to find this one simple information.” He shook his head, disappointed more on himself than his team.

“They didn’t register their soul mark, for some reason, that’s why it didn't cross us when we were investigating the first two murders,” Sehun informed.

All of the soulmates were required to register their soul mark. It was not obligatory but encouraged by the government as it was a part of their identity that they ought to acknowledge. But not everyone shared the same sentiment of their soul mark.

“And sir.” Sehun grabbed a set of photos from an envelope and organized them one by one in front of Chanyeol. “If you noticed the patterns of the wound inflicted on the victims’ wrist, I think there’s a possibility that all of them have met their soulmates already.”

Chanyeol traced his fingers over the victims’ photos taken by their forensic team. It bothered him that he did not catch this as fast as he should. The killer had made sure that the soul marks had been completely erased. Chanyeol remembered thinking that the killer had deep hatred over whatever they had seen on the victim’s wrist. He was foolish enough not to put that together sooner.

Chanyeol then opened his drawer and took out another large envelope. A single photo printed in A4 size was placed on his desk. Sehun looked at him for a second, eyes asking him a silent question.

“I managed to get the footage of what could possibly be our murderer,” the team leader clarified as Sehun took the photo and examined it closely. “But it was only his backside that was visible from the CCTV footage. He was smart enough to avoid the rest of the CCTVs in that place.” He balled his fist, trying his best to control his anger.

“Could the killer possibly be a young man?”

The killer was wearing an all-black hoodie with a cap. He looked rather calm while Ahn was visibly tensed from how he walked all over what seemed like used boxes. It was rather hard to tell his expected age from a single photo of his backside.

“Too early to conclude that.” Chanyeol paused and looked up to the young detective. “This is a very important lead, Sehun. He obviously has a motif, and we don’t know how far his killing spree goes. We have to narrow down our searches.” Chanyeol tapped his fingers on his desk, thinking hard of their next action. “Do we have anything about their soulmates?”

Sehun shook his head. “Our men are still looking into it.”

Chanyeol grabbed the latest victim’s file wordlessly and flipped through the pages until he found what he wanted. He closed the file with a snap and a glint in his eyes. Sehun could only gulp nervously, he knew what that glint meant. And just as he had expected, his team leader quickly snatched his jacket and rounded his desk, not even bothering to brief his subordinate before he dashed out of his own office. Sehun stood up and rushed out without much thought, having already gotten accustomed to Chanyeol’s quirks.

“Where are we going?” Sehun questioned right when he managed to catch up with the older man’s long strides.

“To Ahn’s neighbourhood. Perhaps, we could find out more about this young man,” Chanyeol spoke up his mind. “And maybe, his soulmate.”

“But our team has already gone there for the investigation.”

The young detective caught the grin on Chanyeol’s face. His team leader could be _slightly_ frightening when he was in his high spirit mood. Whatever they had discussed in the office just now had fuelled him up, and Sehun had a strange feeling on what was about to come.

“Nothing’s wrong in looking there for the second time. We could find something that we missed the first time.”

Sehun nodded silently. He mouthed a quick few words to his other teammates just so they were aware of his whereabouts. It was not like they ever stayed put in the police station anyway, especially not when they had a serial killer on the loose.

***

“Yibo, stop slacking off and help me with the orders.”

The said man turned around with a very offended look on his face. He was carrying a tray full of drinks with his right hand, just to emphasize how ridiculous Jongin was right now. Not to forget how he had been going around non-stop since the start of his shift. He watched with an amused face when Jongin’s cackling was stopped by the slap on the back of his head. Jongdae was standing behind his friend while looking at him like he was judging his life choices.

“Stop bullying the part-timer, Jongin,” the older man reprimanded him.

“Yibo has been our part-timer for more than a year already, might as well be our permanent employee. How’s that sound, Yibo?”

Yibo rolled his eyes. “You just want someone younger than you to ask them around,” he stated.

Jongin smiled mischievously in return.

“You know me so well. I have missed you incredibly, my friend. How was your long vacation in your hometown?”

“Great, because you weren’t there.” Yibo clucked his tongue and walked away to deliver the drinks. He would have to entertain this friend after he was done with his job later. Jongin could be a handful when he decided to be a little gremlin.

“Sometimes, I wonder how Kyungsoo deals with you as his soulmate.” Jongdae was still looking at Jongin with the very same judging eyes.

Jongin leaned over the counter and used his elbow to support his weight as he rested his cheek on his palm. An impish smile adorned his face when he looked back at his older friend.

“You would want to know about that. Right, hyung?” he insinuated with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“You’re so shameless, truly,” Yibo commented once he placed his tray on the counter. “What flower is that?” He threw his gaze over the flower vase near them, and it seemed to have dominated the whole shop. Someone had decorated the tables, even the one near the entrance door with at least a pair of the said flower, and Yibo had been itching to ask about it.

“Oh, those are pink camellias. Beautiful, right?”

Yibo nodded. “Baekhyun hyung bought them?”

He heard Jongin hum in response.

“That hyung loves his flowers so much you would think he opened the wrong shop.”

“Wouldn’t doubt that,” Yibo said in return, a smile appeared on his lips as he looked at the flowers.

***

The street was crowded at this side of Seoul. It wasn’t an unusual sight, considering how it was 1 in the afternoon when they finally reached there. People strolled down the street in search of a good place to fill their empty stomachs. It was lunchtime, and Sehun’s belly had been begging for his attention ever since they had left Ahn’s neighbourhood. They had asked around, but nobody in his area seemed to have any idea of his soulmate. It was as if the said soulmate never existed in the first place.

Sehun glanced sideways at his team leader, who was currently busy opting in between checking Ahn’s file in his hand and studying his environment as if anything in this busy street could give him any answer for an unsolved murder case.

“Hyung, should we get lunch first?”

Sehun rolled his eyes, annoyed when his question was ignored. Chanyeol was so deep in his head that he forgot about his surroundings—everything that was not related to the case he was trying to solve. Sehun waited for another few minutes, letting the head detective do what he needed to since stopping him now would be futile. Chanyeol wouldn’t even glance at him.

Chanyeol liked to believe that the one standing with his own two feet, in the middle of the busy street, was not him but Ahn Pil Sung himself. Ahn, who preferred to take the bus instead of the train. Ahn, who would stop a block away from his workplace and walked on this very street every day because he had a routine. One that he most probably hated breaking, and that was to get his coffee from the coffee shop at the end of this street, the one in a beige painted building, with glass door and windows, and green plants guarding its entrance. His team was precise in their report, and Chanyeol couldn’t help but feel proud of them.

“The coffee shop over there is Ahn’s favourite right? He went there almost every day without failing.” Chanyeol flipped through the file again.

"Sehun?" He looked up when he did not get any response from the young detective. He was met with Sehun’s unamused face, instead.

“What?”

The younger man only tapped his watch silently as the answer, all the while keeping his stoic face intact. Chanyeol quirked an eyebrow but threw a glance at his own watch nevertheless. His face morphed into realization at the time.

“Oh, it’s lunch hour. Would you like to get lunch?"

"If it isn’t too obvious to you yet,” Sehun scowled.

Chanyeol chuckled. He knew that the young detective could be grumpy when he was hungry.

“Do you think that the coffee shop serves lunch menus?” Chanyeol pondered over the question, purposely delaying them from getting the said meal break.

Sehun grabbed the older man’s sleeves and dragged him toward the shop direction.

“Let’s just go and figure that out in that shop itself. I think I might die out of hunger right now. I can’t even think straight. How am I going to solve this murder case?” Sehun rambled dramatically while still having Chanyeol’s sleeve in his tight grasp.

***

It was almost three in the afternoon when they walked into the shop. Sehun took a look around the shop, noticing the empty tables. The shop was not as crowded anymore as most people had finished their lunchtime already. A small smile crept on Sehun’s lips; at least he could eat in peace. He was the first one to walk in as his eyes were set on the menu board behind the counter. He shuffled closer without any words.

“They have quite good selections for their lunch menu. Do you want to—” Sehun turned around and realized that he was talking to himself the whole time. Chanyeol was left at the entrance, where he was standing still, his eyes locked on the vase of pink camellia decorating the tables.

“Hyung?”

Sehun watched as the light on Chanyeol’s eyes dimmed, the smile he had on his face had fallen, dropping into a flat line as his frown lines appeared on his forehead. It was just a simple flower, but why did his team leader look at it with such sadness in his eyes?

“Good afternoon. Welcome to Camellias. May I take your order now?”

Sehun turned around and looked at the counter distractedly, completely blocking the view to the entrance door with his tall build. He was greeted with a soft smile and small eyes lost in crescent moons. The man standing in front of him was wearing a pale blue shirt tucked neatly into his black jeans. His outfit was a different contrast of the rest of the workers who were wearing black tucked in shirts.

“Uhh…yes.” Sehun rubbed his neck awkwardly. Chanyeol’s odd behaviour was long forgotten with the presence of the man behind the counter. “Do you have _soondubu jiggae_? Can I have that with one ice Americano?”

“Of course,” came the soft reply. “Would you like beef, chicken, or seafood with it?”

Chanyeol stood with a heavy heart as he stared at the pink camellia flowers in front of him. How long had it been since he last saw the mark on his wrist coming to life with his bare eyes? It had been so long that he had forgotten how vibrant and beautiful the flowers were with the bright pink tone as their clothes.

_“Beef will be great.”_

Chanyeol lifted his hand, unconsciously reaching for the flowers. It was only then that he noticed that the whole shop was decorated with the same flower. He felt a knock in his heart, a soft and gentle touch—a reminder of what kind of man his soulmate was. His fate was betrothed to a man with a gentle smile and vibrant eyes, the same man who would squeal in joy for the slightest bit of happiness. His soulmate was the type of man who would flood his whole room with the flower that marked their red string of fate just to celebrate the day they first met each other.

His full lips were pulled into a sad smile just by the thought of it. A beat, and his eyes widened as if being splashed by a sudden realization. He fished out his phone and looked at the date.

 _4_ _ th  _ _of May…_

Today was the anniversary of the first time they found out that they were each other's soulmate. The once soft knock had turned into a grasp, hands twisting his heart painfully for the sole reminder of what he had once had and lost. He blinked away the tears before they could even fall, swallowing the pains as he was used to.

_“Will that be all?”_

_“Yes.”_

It was only then that Chanyeol truly paid attention to his surroundings: the hustling and bustling of people around him, the chattering of hushed voices talking over one another. Still, there was one person who caught him off guard, the only one that he had been chasing in his dreams for a decade now. His head moved before he could even think, and the sight bestowed upon him sent a great pang of pains right into his chest.

_“Please take a seat at any available table. We’ll bring your food and drink shortly.”_

How could life be so cruel to him and his heart?

Had he sinned so greatly to be punished like this?

“Baekhyun?”

The name carried so much weight, so much pain coming out from his own voice. For a short moment, he had wondered, had _his_ name always sounded like that when he was the one who said it? And Chanyeol watched, rather painfully, how the owner of the name he had called out froze; his small body turned rigid, stone-cold, as if he was chained to where he was standing behind the counter. Their eyes locked, and for the longest of time, Chanyeol refused to blink. He refused to let go of the only chance granted to him after so many nights being denied from looking into the pair of eyes that were once so full of love _for him_.

_But now, where did it all go?_

His feet moved like they had a mind of their own, one small step once before they turned into long strides, and before he knew it, he was standing right in front of the person he had been longing to see for years.

“Baekhyun!”

_Can you hear me calling your name?_

***

Baekhyun’s body turned stiff, frozen in the very same place he had been standing at the counter. It had been so long since he had ever felt this mortified over the sudden slap of reality. He was a fool who thought he could stay hidden forever from the very person who had their life tied in an invisible dead knot over his.

Ten years of him salvaging whatever was left of himself after _that_ tragic turnover of the life he used to have since day one of his existence in this world. A decade had passed, yet a single call of his name was all it took for his world to crash down again. He couldn’t hear anything else, and the silence that came along with that familiar deep voice was deafening. He wanted to cover his ears and scream because he knew he couldn’t handle the eerie silence of his world now. He wanted them to stop, to start yelling, laughing at him, scolding him, anything but this.

It took everything in him to drag his head up and look at the face he had yearned for every night after the nightmares came knocking into his world. It hurt. He could feel his heart throbbing in pains the moment their eyes found one another.

“Baekhyun!”

He watched as the man, who bore the same mark as him in his wrist, rushed to him in his long clumsy strides. Those eyes that used to look at him with distaste, now boring holes into his own eyes with so much compassion and longing that his first instinct was to _look away_ —but he was a fool who couldn’t even deny that his heart yearned for this day to come.

“Chanyeol…” Baekhyun whispered under his breath, so low and quiet that he knew no one near him could hear it. But he knew that the other man could read his lips despite the obvious trembles. He knew Chanyeol saw it.

Chanyeol’s long limb was fast enough to grab Baekhyun’s wrist. His eyes were wild like a mad man as he looked at Baekhyun’s face, searching for something that only he knew. The grip he had on the smaller man was strong but not harsh. It was gentle, as gentle as one could be with how tight it was. But the touch burned through the bandage that Baekhyun had diligently wrapped around his wrist every single day, and the fire seeped into his bare skin, digging deeper into the mark carved on his wrist. Baekhyun knew he was not the only one who felt it; the burns of their soul marks.

_“Do you hate it that much?”_

Baekhyun heard those voices again, loud and clear as his whole world had gone silent.

_“Yes. I wanted it gone.”_

They both hissed at the searing pains and grimaced at the sheer knowledge that the burns could only mean that their marks were rebelling, forcing themselves out of the restraint their bearer had placed on them to reach their other half. Denying them would only cost further pain to the mark bearer.

Baekhyun tried to pull his hand back. He could hear the thundering of his heart beneath his chest as he attempted another pull, but Chanyeol was stubborn like he had always been; persistent in his hold over Baekhyun’s fragile wrist. It forced Baekhyun to grab the other man’s wrist to pry his hand away, but the moment he touched Chanyeol, the pain leached into the tip of his fingers before it spread like wildfire, burning his whole being from the inside out.

Baekhyun looked down at their locked hands, noticing the wet patches on his own hands. He didn’t know when he started crying, but he was sobbing when he glanced up and looked into the same eyes he had missed for so many years.

“Let me go.”

He begged, his words drowned in his own sniffling.

“You are hurting me. Let go, _please._ ”

Chanyeol. _His_ Chanyeol looked at him with the same confused eyes, the same hidden rage over things that Chanyeol didn’t understand, but Baekhyun knew the pains surging through their marks was a blatant punishment for their selfish acts. He didn’t know for how much longer he could stand there before he collapsed. The pains were too much even for him, and he knew Chanyeol was holding it back, too.

“Hyung _,_ I think you should let go.”

Another hand was placed carefully on top of Chanyeol’s calloused hand. Baekhyun could feel his soulmate’s hand tensed before he caught a glimpse of Chanyeol almost snarling at the intruder until he looked up and realized that the foreign hand belonged to his friend. That seemed to snap Chanyeol out of the trance he was in, and the grip he had was loosened. Baekhyun pulled his hands back hastily as he tried to calm his tears from spilling even more than they already had.

“Baekhyun hyung _,_ are you okay?”

Jongin was the first one to arrive at the counter. He tried to reach out as carefully as he could to Baekhyun’s trembling body but halted midway when the older man flinched at the mere touch of his fingers.

“Hyung?”

He had known Baekhyun for more than five years now, yet not even once had he seen Baekhyun in such a state, so shaken up that he would unconsciously shy away from Jongin's attempt to comfort him. He tried the second time, and it was as if the other had finally recognized him that his body melted onto him without any questions. Baekhyun trusted Jongin enough to let the younger one hold him and keep him steady.

“What’s going on here?”

It was Yibo who spoke, his voice was firm and slightly demanding. He had placed himself in between the counter and Chanyeol, forcing the taller man to take a step back.

“I’m sorry. It must have been a misunderstanding. My friend over here—”

“Where have you been, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol cut off Sehun’s attempt to clear the air, and Sehun’s jaw dropped as he looked at the older man bewilderedly. His team leader was full of surprises today that even he didn’t know how to react anymore. The man standing beside him now was wearing a deep frown, his eyes looked wild and distressed, his usual calm voice now held tremor in every syllable he uttered—he was not the same superior who had walked out of the police station with Sehun this morning.

“Hyung, if you’re not feeling well, you can go and rest. We’ll take care of the shop.” Jongin broke the silence, ignoring the question thrown by Chanyeol across the counter as he gave his full attention on the trembling man in his hold. He was holding Baekhyun’s arms, embracing the older man from behind as gently as he could.

“Please,” Baekhyun mumbled weakly. He had finally stopped crying, but he was in no shape to stand here managing the shop, especially not with Chanyeol present here.

Chanyeol took a step forward rashly when he realized that Baekhyun was about to walk away again, his long arm unconsciously reached out for him despite Yibo shielding the other and stopping him from going any further.

“Baekhyun, _please!_ ”

“Sir, you are causing disturbance in this premise. I will have to ask you to leave.” Yibo reprimanded him sternly. His face was cold and impassive, clearly not amused by the ruckus that Chanyeol had caused.

Chanyeol could only watch as the man he had been searching for almost a decade slipped from his grip again. He felt a tug in his heart, a painstakingly slow and long drag before it settled heavily in him—a reminder of what he had lost yet again. His mark mourned over the loss of its other half.

“You don’t understand. I just... I—” Chanyeol stuttered, struggling to construct his own sentences properly, but he was desperate. “I _need_ to speak to him.”

Yibo shook his head and firmly stood his ground, not granting any access for Chanyeol to move forward. He glanced at Sehun, who was still standing beside Chanyeol with a conflicted face. They shared a look before Yibo nodded and Sehun, surprisingly, understood the gesture.

“Chanyeol, we should leave.”

Sehun grabbed his friend’s arm and tugged on it carefully. Chanyeol threw a look behind his shoulder before he let out a deep sigh. He straightened his body and bowed apologetically to Yibo and Jongin.

“I apologize for the trouble I have caused,” said Chanyeol, with downcast eyes and a face marred with a frown. “I’ll take my leave now.”

He turned around and strode to the entrance door without any words with Sehun following him silently, but not before bowing politely to the two waiters.

“I feel like I should ask you what that was, but I won’t interfere,” Sehun concluded the moment they stepped out of the coffee shop. He slipped his hands inside his jeans front pockets before stealing a quick glance at the other man. “Should I go back to the station?” he probed, having a strong feeling that his team leader would need his own space after what had transpired a moment ago. Hell, even he needed time to process his thoughts after _that._

“Go back to the station first,” ordered Chanyeol. He was looking ahead with a solemn face. “I have something else to do.” He paused, turning around to look at Sehun properly. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I’ll see you at the station tomorrow, Sehun.”

Sehun could only nod awkwardly while watching the older man leave with heavy steps. He had never seen such a troubled back from Chanyeol since he was first introduced to their station, even when his first case had turned into a serial murder with close to no leads at the beginning.

***

Baekhyun didn’t waste any seconds. He took his leave, letting his feet carry him away from the suffocating place, without another glance at the tall man in front of Yibo. His world became silent once again, like they always had been when the stress took a massive toll on him. The only thing he could hear was the rattling beats of his heart. He didn’t know if it was the twist he felt in his gut or the searing burns on his mark that made him feel nauseous.

His steps were sloppy as if he did not have full control of his limbs. He was fighting the urge to have his tears spilled again, yet everything was nothing but a blur spec of images in his eyes. His hands grabbed hold of what he could only hope to be the back door. Once he stepped in, he did not turn left where the kitchen would be, but he headed straight into the staff room.

Baekhyun staggered inside, body colliding against the row of lockers before he slid down to the floor, scraping his back against the locker. The sob that he had held back broke out in a choked breath, and he wept in despair, heart hollow and chest heavy with unspoken burdens. He dragged his knees closer to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and buried his face in the little space in between, hiding from the reality of his broken world.

“Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun heard muffled footsteps, carefully taken towards him, but he chose to remain still in his crouching position, too ashamed to face his friends or anyone at all. His twitchy fingers grasped the fabric of his pants tighter as he struggled to control his breathing amidst his weeping.

He was jumpy when a hand wrapped itself around his shoulders; the gesture was done with so much care that he relaxed into the touch. He felt another one settle around his head before the hands gently pulled him into the hard chest of his friend. The same hand patted his head tenderly, rocking his body along as they cooed. “You are okay,” whispered Kyungsoo. “You are safe now.”

Baekhyun lifted his head hesitantly. His eyes were red, swollen, and puffed from all the crying he had done. Kyungsoo’s expression softened when he caught his eyes. Baekhyun looked over his friend’s shoulder and saw Jongdae standing by the closed door; his eyebrows were knitted together, his eyes filled with concern and worries. Baekhyun felt hands on either side of his face before he was pulled to face Kyungsoo. His friend looked alarmed.

“Hey, breathe.” Kyungsoo’s thumbs rubbed his damp cheeks soothingly. “You need to breathe, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun didn’t realize that he was hyperventilating, his breathing was hasty, and he coughed as he sucked in the air greedily. It took awhile for him to calm his breathing down and sober up. Jongdae came closer and sat beside Kyungsoo.

“The shop.”

Baekhyun gasped at the sudden realization, but his two friends looked unaffected.

“Jongin and Yibo are attending the customers now, and we closed the kitchen temporarily.”

He gazed at Kyungsoo and Jongdae worriedly then shied away from their attentive eyes. He was suddenly very much aware of what had just happened, and he didn’t have the heart to close up himself again from the same people who had seen him at his worst. He placed a hesitant hand on the bandage hiding his soul mark away.

“I think…” Baekhyun trailed off, contemplating his decision for a moment as he bit his lips nervously at what he was about to do. He inhaled sharply. “There is something I would like you both to see.”

His dainty fingers reached for the clip keeping his bandage together. He rubbed a comforting circle around it, taking his time to gather his thoughts before he spoke.

“When I was a little kid, my mom often told me stories about how heaven tied the fate of two people, binding the string of their life together in perfect sync.” His lips were pulled into a small smile as he was reminded of a good time in the past.

“Heaven then left a mark on the skin above their pulse, linking it straight to their heart. So when the heart beats, the pulse would follow, and together, they bring the mark to life. Heaven was fond of flowers, the symbol of beauty and love. So, they used them as the mark of the bond they have created. When the two souls meet again on earth, the flowers would do a little dance, leaping and embracing their bearer’s wrists to celebrate the reunion of two fated souls.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it? I used to be so fascinated with the stories. It was all I could think about everyday growing up.”

“I was a naïve child, easily captivated by a fairy-tale told by my once sweet mother”—he pulled the clip off his bandage carefully, and began unwrapping the gauze slowly as he spoke, swallowing his tears—“I was so, _so_ eager to meet my fated one.”

The last of the thin cloth he unrolled left his wrist. Baekhyun watched it land on his lap with a tired gaze before he lifted a finger and touched the reddish skin around his faded string of camellia. The yearning he felt each time he laid eyes on his mark deepened at the touch.

“…but I guess, he didn’t share the same excitement as mine." He paused. "It was already too late when I realized that our bonds are a broken one.”

Baekhyun looked up with tearful eyes and a sad smile on his face.

***

**_Gyeongsan City, Daegu_ ** **— May 4** ** th  ** **, 2010**

Spring season in May had started with drizzling rain, trickles of water had fallen on to the ground almost as quietly as they had come—like a whisper in the air on a quiet afternoon. The only thing that had given them out to the oblivious ones inside the confines of their houses had been the petrichor that had come when rain had greeted the dry soil on earth.

Baekhyun had sucked in the air, inhaling the pleasant, earthy scent that had accompanied the rains with closed eyes. Spring had always been his favourite season because they had brought in the rain. He had been standing in front of the row of shops, seeking cover under their extended roof as he had watched the rain with glee in his youthful face.

He had been enjoying the feeling of rain droplets on his opened palm, his hand had outstretched in front of him when he had felt the soft tingles on his wrist. They had started softly, barely noticeable, but they had become more insistent in each second. He had withdrawn his hand back by reflex. The tingles hadn’t been painful, but he had never felt such sensation from his mark. It was as if there had been an invisible string pulling his wrist gently.

For a moment, Baekhyun had engrossed himself in watching, rather fondly at how the pink flower had bloomed with the beat of his heart. Everything had been normal until he had noticed a tendril sliding out from underneath the mark. He had gasped, eyes widened at the discovery. It had swirled around his pink camellia then stretched itself as if it had been reaching out for something.

Baekhyun had felt it then, an unfamiliar feeling slowly building up from the pit of his stomach. It had coiled around, tickling him from the inside before it had crawled up, embracing his heart as a whole. He had felt it, a feeling so strong that it had knocked him forward. He had been tripping on invisible stone.

Baekhyun had heard a distant doorbell rang, and a door had closed.

He hadn’t been sure what he had been expecting, but when he had finally looked up, he had seen _him_ —a man taller than him had been looking straight into his soul. The man had his hand raised with his open palm facing him; perhaps he had been looking at the same thing as Baekhyun had. He had looked back at his mark, the tendril had swirled around his wrist, cuffing it like a bracelet. Then slowly, new pink camellias had grown one by one on top of the tendril, blooming beautifully as they had grown.

Baekhyun had gazed up again and caught the taller man in the same state as him.

 _‘Soulmate?’_ Baekhyun had caught the man mouthing that word from across the street. The man’s round eyes had widened even more as they had bore into Baekhyun’s questioningly.

And Baekhyun hadn’t been able to stop the smile from creeping into his lips.

He had whispered back, “Soulmate.”

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— May, 2020**

He woke up in a moving car.

He couldn’t tell the time, but it was dark. Flashes of lights sneaked into the car as the vehicle sped down the almost empty road. It must be night. The only company they had was the streetlights, flickers of yellow strikes along the roadside when he peeked out of the closed window. He was sitting at the backseat alone yet the sight wasn’t strange in his eyes. He felt familiar with this arrangement despite the confusion welling up in his head.

There were muffled voices from the front—someone was angry. He tried to look at their faces, tried to make out words from the muffled voices, but nothing came out. He was greeted with nothing but only darkness and more incoherent sounds.

The car was cold.

He didn’t realize that he was shivering, his teeth clattering against one another as he tried to fight the cold. It was snowing outside. He watched, with wonder, as the snowflakes fell slowly against the car before they made a small mountain of snow at the corner of the car window.

He tilted his head at the view. Odd. He tried to look out of the closed window again, struggling at his attempts because suddenly, his limbs felt heavy and numb. Something wasn’t right. The car was speeding, the streetlights—

_“This soul mark is a curse!”_

Heswooped his head to the front seat as fast as his body allowed him, eyes wide with horror because he knew—he knew what’s coming next. He had been here before. And the sudden realization forced his fears, that were lying low, to come out in full force, consuming his entire being as he sat there and waited for the end to come.

“Please, stop.”

_“Let’s die together then!”_

There was a loud crash, so loud that it rang inside of his head, knocking him off his seat despite the seatbelt fastened around his waist. He tried to reach out, but his hands wouldn’t move. He was held captive under a heavy weight that was himself. He felt uncomfortable, wet, and cold. _So cold._ His cries for help echoed in the quiet place…but no one came.

_For a long time, no one had come for him._

***

Baekhyun jolted awake with a scream.

A new set of tears welled up in his eyes, and without so much of a thought, he let them fall on his already damp cheeks. He sucked in the air greedily and ended up coughing at his clogged throat. He was drenched in sweat from his waist up, but none of that mattered to him now.

It had been so long since he had a nightmare as vivid as what he just had a moment ago. It had felt too surreal that he could actually feel the ghost of pains crippling his whole body. He eyed the faded string of camellia flowers on his wrist, and the angry voice from his nightmare rang in his head like a sick reminder _._

_This soul mark is a curse._

_***_

“Park Kim Shin, Jo Eun Kwon, and Ahn Pil Sung — all of our victims here have one thing in common.” Sehun paused, reaching for the marker lying on the desk before he moved closer to the whiteboard in the middle of the room.

He wrote the victims’ names next to their respective photos on the whiteboard. Three lines were drawn under each of them before they were linked into a single word.

_Soulmates._

“All of them are soulmates; the bearer of the soul mark. And as of today, sadly, none of their soulmates can be identified yet.”

Sehun clasped the marker lid back to its place as he looked at each of the occupants in the room, hoping that someone could at least give him new updates on their investigation, but his fellow teammates only shook their head dejectedly. Sehun sagged onto the desk near him. He couldn’t possibly be mad as well because he knew everyone had been working hard on their parts, he included, but the soulmates seemed so keen on hiding themselves.

“It has been a week,” Chanyeol spoke flatly, brows knitted in a frown as he leaned forward from his seat at the back, facing his team’s backside. “You meant to say we don’t have anything at all?”

Sehun’s lips set into a grim line when he looked away to focus on the file in front of him, suddenly having an interest in reading the title of the report on repeat. Anything, as long as he was not locking eyes with their team leader right now. After the rather uncompromised scene that Chanyeol had caused at the coffee shop, his superior had been acting as if nothing had happened in the first place. He was not one to question it, although he noticed that Chanyeol had been indulging himself in his workaholic habits a bit too much lately.

“Do you think we had it wrong?” Dae Young, one of the younger detectives, suggested. He twisted his upper body around to look at Chanyeol. A brave soul. Sehun thought as he subconsciously nodded his head in agreement with his own inner voice.

“Maybe the reason why we haven’t found any soulmates yet was that none of them have met their soulmates yet.”

“If that’s the case, why would the killer waste their time to inflict the wound around their wrist instead of just on their soul mark?” another detective questioned; it was Jisoo who countered back. The man was of the same age as Sehun but only came into the team a year after him.

“It could be just their trademark. A pattern they came up with when they did the murders,” Dae Young concluded this time.

“You could be right, Dae Young-ah. But at this point, that is just another assumption like our first theory.”

“Nothing wrong in questioning that, Sanghyun. Questioning and challenging evidence or theories are the fundamentals of our work line,” Chanyeol affirmed with a slight smile. That was probably the first time Sehun had seen him smile after almost a week of enduring his troubled face. “Thanks for your insight, Dae Young.”

Chanyeol got up from his seat and walked to the front before he stopped in front of the whiteboard. A marker in his hand.

“I think all of you are forgetting something here,” he began. “What can you remember from our first victim’s wound? And I want all of you to focus on the wrist only.” Chanyeol arched an eyebrow, pulling the tip of his lips slightly upward as if challenging his fellow detectives.

“The wrist was sliced countless times. It was messy and vicious because the bones were almost visible,” Sehun blurted out absent-mindedly. He had the details of each murder stored in his head from the numerous readings he had done on the reports alone.

Chanyeol swirled around to face him then, a smile plastered on his handsome face.

“And what does that tell you, Sehun?”

Sehun stared back into his team leader’s eyes, searching for a clue of what the man could probably seek from him.

“The killer was angry.” It dawned on to him then what Chanyeol had wanted them to see. The answers were pretty much everywhere in the first victim’s murder details because unlike the other two, the first one was accidental—out of anger and emotional outburst. It was not planned hence why everything was so chaotic.

“Have you ever felt so angry that your mind shut down, and you just went berserk?” Chanyeol looked around the room. “It was not just you losing your temper in your everyday life, but this was you being consumed by your temper and whatever madness or hatred that you had, your rationality begone. You took a knife, out of impulse, and buried it into the flesh and bones of the subject of your anger.”

Everyone in the room stayed silent.

“Now, coming from there, would anyone mind telling me if you still think that there’s a chance for the wounds on the first victim’s wrist, and the rest of them, could be just a pattern or a trademark by our killer?” Chanyeol went on.

The marker in Chanyeol’s hand made repetitive _tap_ sounds as he continuously drummed the blunt cap on the wooden desk.

“No,” answered Sehun, his hand gripping on the plastic file, the underneath folded at the force from his fingers. “He could just leave after the victim died from the stabbing alone, but he stayed and took his time slicing the flesh around the victim’s wrist. It was even longer than the actual murder time.”

“That’s right, Sehun. Good job.”

Chanyeol started writing on the whiteboard, pointing out the important details from Sehun’s answers.

“Our serial killer was triggered from an accidental murder that could possibly cause by a pent up hatred or rage. Whatever he had tasted from the first murder, he wanted it again when he committed the second and the third one. He had even become smarter and more creative in his murder tools in such a short time. _That_ alone should warrant us a big red warning sign.”

Chanyeol threw a look at his whole team and put the marker down.

“All three of them have a soul mark, unrecorded, and assuming they have all met their other half, don’t you think it’s a bit too much to call it a coincidence that all of the soulmates are missing?”

He picked up his copies of each victim's files and started flipping through the papers.

“I have a hunch,” he announced. “But it could only be proven once we found their soulmates. So try your best to find them.” He looked up with an eerie glint in his eyes, sending shivers down his subordinates’ spines.

“Jisoo, Sanghyun—you both are now in charge of Park Kim Shin’s profiles. He was an alumnus from Chung-Ang University. Find his classmates and try to get more information from them. Someone has to have that _tea_. Dae Yung and Jae Chan, you’ll be in charge of Jo Eun Kwon’s profiles. He used to work for Kim corporation for 3 years before he resigned for no solid reason—there must be something more in that. See if you could find his soulmate there.”

All four of the detectives nodded their heads almost in sync at the instruction given to them. Chanyeol looked behind his shoulder to the young detective who was always in his tails.

“And you, Oh Sehun—you and I will be searching for Ahn Pil Sung’s soulmate. We still have an unfinished business with his case.”

“Understood, sir.” Sehun swallowed nervously. He was, undoubtedly, having a war flashback just by hearing that name.

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— May, 2020**

Jongin and Jongdae stood in front of the shop with a rather threatening stance. The grill gate was half closed behind them. They were closing early again. Both of them looked ahead at the man leaning against the parked car by the roadside with scrutinizing eyes. Both hands in their jacket pockets as they pursed their lips tightly.

“How long has he been there?” asked Jongdae, his eyes still throwing dagger to the subject of their attention.

“An hour—I’ve been counting,” Jongin said while scrunching his nose.

“He’s been coming here every day. I’m getting bored of his face.”

“Me too,” Jongin agreed begrudgingly, head nodding as he spoke.

“What are you both doing?”

Both of them jumped, shrieking unmanly at Kyungsoo's sudden question from behind. They were clutching on their chest dramatically when they laid their eyes on the said man.

“Kyungsoo, why would you creep from behind like that?”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and scoffed in return at Jongdae's outburst. “You won’t be surprised if you have actually paid attention to your surroundings instead of doing unnecessary things,” Kyungsoo reprimanded, arms crossed on his chest. “What were you both doing?”

Jongin pouted but tilted his head to his right, gesturing the same man who was now looking at them amusedly. Kyungsoo gave him a once-over and let out a long sigh.

“We should go home first.”

Jongin’s ears perked up at that. “But what about Baekhyun hyung?”

“He will be fine.” Kyungsoo looked at the man— _Chanyeol_ —again. “It’s about time he faces his past. We shouldn’t interfere.”

***

The first thing that caught Baekhyun’s attention when he stepped out of his shop was the man standing against the parked car. They stared at each other for a few seconds, exchanging looks beyond words. Their marks tingled but they were not burning like they did the first time they were reunited. Baekhyun turned around and crouched down to lock the shop gate silently.

Chanyeol’s eyes were wide with his eyebrows lifted when Baekhyun walked up to him and stopped in front of him. No eyes smiling at him or a blinding beam directed at him anymore; just empty eyes and a tired face of the man he hadn’t seen for a decade.

“Baekhyun.”

The name slipped off his mouth before he could stop himself. Baekhyun nodded slowly before he gestured for them to walk. Chanyeol followed him without much words, they both ended up sitting on a bench at the park not far from the shop.

For a long time, silence was a permanent company as they sat there, looking ahead, none brave enough to start first. Chanyeol inhaled, gathering his courage as he searched for the right words to say.

“You left,” Chanyeol blurted, his full lips quavering. “Why?”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened for a split second—as if he wasn’t expecting Chanyeol to say anything anytime soon—before they dropped slowly, his stiffened body sagging on to the bench as he played with his fingers nervously.

“I woke up and you weren’t there—tried to find you everywhere but you were gone without a trace.”

“Was I really?”

Chanyeol looked up to find Baekhyun’s eyes staring back at him. The eyes were challenging him in some way that had Chanyeol frowning, not quite getting the other man’s question.

“Did I really leave without a trace or was it you who has never truly known me enough to take a guess?”

Baekhyun’s question sent a blow onto Chanyeol’s pride, because he knew that Baekhyun was only telling the truth. They were soulmates, yet despite knowing each other for one whole year, Chanyeol barely knew anything more than what the latter had generously offered to him. It wasn’t that Baekhyun was reserved or mysterious, but it was him who didn’t bother to put in efforts in getting to know his soulmate better.

“I was living with my grandparents in Bucheon,” Baekhyun muttered under his breath.

That was new. Chanyeol never knew that. He bit his lower lip at the sudden realization. The anger he had kept all this while against the man sitting beside him suddenly felt unjustified.

“Why—why didn’t you say anything before you left?” He was stammering. _Idiot._

“It didn’t feel like I needed to.” Baekhyun studied his locked fingers, his expression softened. “I lost my phone and everything in it. Didn’t feel like going back to Daegu anymore so I dropped out. There was nothing left for me there anyway.”

Chanyeol looked conflicted and hurt as he listened. He couldn’t bring himself to ask anything more.

“I was there, Baekhyun. I was _waiting_ for you.”

“You didn’t want me, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun’s words were like knives—stabbing and cutting Chanyeol’s heart into pieces. Baekhyun turned his head toward him, eyes void of emotion staring back at Chanyeol’s tearful ones. “Why are you crying?” Baekhyun asked, his small thumb reaching to wipe the tears that had fallen on Chanyeol’s cheeks. “You never wanted a soulmate. I was only setting you free.”

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s wrist in a rush, holding onto it as he looked into the other man’s eyes wildly.

“I’ve never said that, Baekhyun,” confirmed Chanyeol. He would know if he did. He was still young back then, still reckless and emotional, but he wouldn’t, not even for a mere second, hurt his soulmate intentionally.

But Baekhyun’s sad eyes and softened expression told him so much sorrow and grieves that he felt in his gut—that painful twist of the sudden knowledge of what he had put Baekhyun through over some mindless words.

“I did…” Chanyeol faltered. The grip on the smaller one’s wrist slackened the more he stared deep into the other’s eyes. The ghost of his yesterday's felt like they were a breath away.

“I did?” Chanyeol’s voice echoed again.

He didn’t receive any answer, however. Only a broken smile and a grief-stricken eyes staring back at him.

***

**_Daegu_ ** **— December 28 th, 2010 **

Baekhyun had pulled his coat closer, hiding himself deeper into the layers of clothes and winter coat. It had gotten colder now that winter was coming and the first drop of snow had fallen a few days ago.

He had fished out his phone and checked his KakaoTalk again for the last message sent by Chanyeol’s friend. He had known that they had gone out for drinks tonight. It had seemed like his soulmate had been too drunk to walk home so he had been asked to pick him up.

Baekhyun had looked up to confirm the bar name before he had stepped in. Chanyeol could be a handful when he was drunk; Baekhyun had briefly wondered whether he should call for a taxi now or wait later. He had looked around and caught a sight of Chanyeol and his friend at a corner.

It was when he had been a few steps away from them that he had heard it.

“I hate this—this stup—pid stupid mark,” Chanyeol had slurred.

Baekhyun’s steps had faltered before he had completely stopped himself from getting any closer. He would recognize that voice anywhere.

“I thought you and Baekhyun were doing alright? You’re not happy?”

“No.” The sounds had felt like thunder in Baekhyun’s ears.

“You see…mm—we should have—” A hiccup. “—we should have freedom to choose. If I want Baekhyun, it should be because I _want_ him and not because of some stupid soul mark.”

“Isn’t that the same thing? At the end of the day, it’s Baekhyun that you want. With or without a soul mark.”

“You don’t get it,” Chanyeol’s muffled reply had come. “It is not!”

Baekhyun had swallowed back the tears that had been threatening to fall. He had unclamped his fist and walked closer to their booth after deciding he couldn’t bear to hear anything more than he already had. It had felt like he had been intruding on a private talk—it didn’t matter if it had been about him and their bond. Chanyeol would tell him when he had wanted to and he shouldn’t force him anymore than he already had.

He had stood behind Chanyeol with a schooled face just as the taller man had continued slurring while slapping his soul mark. “And why did they have to be pink camellia? I hate pink. You know how many shits I got for this mark?”

“B-Baekhyun!” Junmyeon, Chanyeol’s basketball friend, had sat up when he had noticed his friend’s soulmate standing with an impassive face behind their booth. “How long have you been standing there?”

Baekhyun had smiled at Junmyeon as if he hadn’t heard anything that they had been talking about a few seconds ago.

“I just arrived.” He had looked down onto Chanyeol who had been slumped on his seat, still slapping on his soul mark while mumbling incoherent words. “You really let him get this wasted, huh?” he had commented with a fleeting smile.

Junmyeon had rubbed his neck nervously, hoping to the seventh heavens that Baekhyun hadn’t heard anything that his stupid friend had spurted before he had come just now.

“I tried to stop him but you know how he is with his drinks sometimes.”

Baekhyun had chuckled. “I know. That’s why I’m here,” he had said as he had patted on Chanyeol’s head gently.

“Thank you for coming to get this idiot, Baekhyun. I couldn’t drop him off. I need to go somewhere else after this.”

Baekhyun had looked up at Junmyeon as he had lifted Chanyeol up from the seat. His soulmate’s long arms had slotted around his shoulders as he had used it to support the other’s weight.

“No, _thank you_ for calling me here. I’ll take him home safely.”

Baekhyun had been able to drag Chanyeol out of the bar without much struggle. His years of Hapkido training had paid off despite having a smaller build than his soulmate. When they had arrived at Chanyeol’s apartment, he had managed to drag the other man slowly to his bed. Baekhyun had taken off Chanyeol shoes and socks for him before proceeding to get him out of his winter coat.

Baekhyun had huffed tiredly as he had sat at the end of the bed, overlooking the man sleeping on the bed. Chanyeol’s cheeks had been tinted red when Baekhyun had leaned down to look at him properly.

“Chanyeol,” he had called out softly.

The drunk man had hummed in return.

“The soul mark—do you hate it that much?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol had mumbled sleepily. “Wanted it gone.”

Baekhyun had looked at him with a sad smile, dainty fingers had brushed his hair away from his face. Baekhyun had leaned down and placed a kiss on Chanyeol’s forehead.

“ _I love you_.”

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— May, 2020**

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Baekhyun said, removing his hand from Chanyeol’s grip.

Chanyeol frowned. “How could you say that? Of course it matters—it matters because it’s _you_ , Baekhyun. I don’t know what I said that made you turn away from me, but it was—I’ve never wanted to lose you, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun shook his head as if trying to chase away the hope that came with Chanyeol’s heavy confession.

“You have grown up so well and handsome, Chanyeol. I’m glad,” Baekhyun replied instead, dismissing Chanyeol’s words. He tilted his head, the same fond smile still visible on his beautiful face, although it was now marred with sadness.

“Baekhyun…”

Baekhyun got up from his seat and glanced down to Chanyeol.

“What I did and why I left—they were all in the past. Forget about them.” _Forget about me._ “Our paths are not the same anymore, Chanyeol. Don’t let a mere soul mark pin you down. You are a free soul now; you shouldn’t be caged.”

Baekhyun was turning around to leave when Chanyeol grabbed his wrist again, their soul mark tingling in excitement as their skin touched. Baekhyun couldn’t bring himself to look back so he stilled, looking at the ground in front of him instead.

“I’m not giving up on us, Baekhyun. I have waited for ten years—I could wait a decade more if that’s what you want.”

“Goodnight, Chanyeol.”

And Chanyeol stayed, watching his soulmate walk away from him again, but this time with a new resolution set in his heart.

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— End of May, 2020**

A man in his late 20s walked casually on the walking paths along the _Hangang Park_. His friends followed his tails as they laughed a bit too loud for the other passer-by liking.

“I found my soulmate last week,” he told his friend apathetically.

“What?” his friend gasped loudly.

“You didn’t even tell us, asshole!” another friend cussed jokingly.

“Nah, I bet he wants to keep his soulmate all for himself,” the one beside him teased.

The man scoffed, annoyed with the teasing. “I’ve told you, I’m not into this soulmate shit. It’s so troublesome.”

“Ah, right. That’s why Jo Hyun had that tattoo.”

The man, Jo Hyun, arched his eyebrow, a smirk evident on his lips as he showed off the tattoo decorating his wrist; his soul mark lost under the dark ink on his skin.

“There’s no way I’m going to waste my life getting stuck in this stupid fairy-tale. Soulmates? Bullshit. Why would I want to tie myself down when I can live freely?”

His friends laughed, agreeing with his statement.

“What happened to your soulmate though? Did she take it well?”

“No.” He burst out laughing. “I told her to never appear in front of my face anymore. Stupid woman was crying when I told her off.”

“Jo Hyun, that was nasty. Karma will bite your ass off.”

Jo Hyun laughed mockingly. “See if karma can catch me. I even got rid of my own soulmate. All of them can go—”

His sentence was cut off midway when someone bumped onto his shoulder rather harshly. Jo Hyun turned around and saw a man in his black hoodie up, a black beanie covering his forehead.

“Yah, use your eyes when you run!”

The man only bowed silently before he turned around and continued with his run, completely ignoring the yelling and cursing from Jo Hyun.

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— End of May, 2020**

Sehun stared at the man in front of him with narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows, completely judging his companion’s state. They were seated at the table outside of the 24hours convenience store and Chanyeol was drinking his fourth can of beer while looking like someone who just murdered his dog.

“Let me tell you a story, Sehun.”

Sehun massaged his temples tiredly. He should have stayed home instead of going out when his team leader had called him.

“No. I’m not interested, hyung,” he groaned exasperatedly.

Chanyeol slammed the almost empty can on the table, spilling the remaining beer from the can. Sehun sat up, startled by Chanyeol’s sudden action.

“Ah hyung, keep it down. You’re embarrassing.”

“You will listen to my story!” demanded the older man.

Sehun sighed, blowing his cheeks as he watched Chanyeol leaning his face on the flat surface of the table. “Go on then.”

“I have a soulmate,” Chanyeol announced.

“Oh.” Sehun leaned closer to the drunk man, suddenly interested in what the other was about to say. “That Baekhyun guy from the coffee shop?” he probed.

“ _Baekhyun._ Baekhyun wasn’t just a guy, you brat. He’s my soulmate. My beautiful soulmate,” slurred Chanyeol.

“Yeah yeah, so?” the younger man waved him off yet still listening attentively.

“He used to be so bright, so full of smiles.” Chanyeol gave a deluded smile as if remembering something at the mere description of his soulmate. But then the smile dropped, his lips turned downward. “I think I made him sad and I didn’t realize it until now— _ten years_. It took me ten years to figure it out, Sehun-ah.”

He sobbed like a child.

***

**_Daegu_ ** **— Sometimes in 2010**

“Chanyeolie!”

Chanyeol had paused, groaning when he had heard the familiar voice calling him from the distant.

“What?” he had snapped but his annoyed face had faltered when a lunch box had been thrusted to him instead.

“Good morning, soulmate!” Baekhyun’s bright eyes and wide smile had greeted him.

“What is this?” Chanyeol had asked dumbly.

“I made you a lunch box.”

“Why?” Chanyeol had asked. He was still staring at the neatly packed lunch box in his hands.

“For you to eat of course.” Baekhyun had arched his eyebrows as he had said each word like Chanyeol had just asked him an obnoxious question.

Chanyeol had thrusted the lunch box back to Baekhyun rashly as if he had just gotten reminded of something, making the smaller man look up to him with a pout and confused eyes.

“I don’t want it,” Chanyeol had clarified.

“Oh, why? Chanyeol doesn’t like homemade food? If you’re worried if the food tastes bad, don’t be! I learned how to cook from my mom. She’s the best cook I’ve ever known.” Baekhyun’s eyes had gleamed with so much fondness it had tickled Chanyeol’s hardened heart.

_“Chanyeol! Hurry up!”_

They both had looked out at Junmyeon calling out Chanyeol from the door leading to their faculty.

“I’m taking this.” Chanyeol had made a quick turn then, snatching the lunch box from Baekhyun’s hands back before he had hurried down the path towards his friend.

He hadn’t caught the blinding smile his soulmate had while watching his back leaving with the lunch box the other had specially made for him.

***

Chanyeol had been lying on the grass beneath the big tree in their campus park. It had been his usual spot to take a short nap in between class. The wind had blown, tousling his hair as he had tried yet again to take another nap.

He was a few minutes into his nap when he had noticed the sudden heat. The sun must be up now, no longer hidden by the thick fluffy clouds—he had thought. He had groaned, trying to endure a few minutes under the heat before he could actually force himself to get up.

Chanyeol was about to open his eyes and get up from his short nap when he had heard the soft footsteps approaching him. He had heard a few quiet rustling beside him yet had decided to keep his eyes shut. He had taken a peek a few seconds later though when he had felt less attacked by the heat from the sun, and the sight unfolded before his eyes had amused him.

Baekhyun had been sitting beside him, blocking the ray of sunlight from reaching him with his own body. The smaller man had been struggling, albeit cutely so, to decide the best position that would effectively block the sunlight. It was almost as if he had been performing some weird dances. Chanyeol had caught the way his soulmate’s cheeks puffing as he had looked up at the sky like he had been scolding the sun for interrupting Chanyeol’s nap time. He had fought the smile creeping into his lips at the adorable sight.

Chanyeol had quickly shut his eyes when he had noticed that Baekhyun was about to turn around and face him. Baekhyun was facing him now with his arms spread one each side, perfectly blocking the sunlight from Chanyeol.

Chanyeol had planned to wake up and told Baekhyun off for whatever odd things he had been doing but he had heard a soft whisper, just above his face. A cool breeze had blown to them.

“Sleep well, Chanyeolie.”

Baekhyun had started humming a lullaby quietly as he had stayed in the same position. It had sounded so serene and soothing that Chanyeol unknowingly had drifted to sleep.

***

“You should take this today.”

Chanyeol hadn’t moved an inch. He had been glaring at the folded umbrella presented to him by the persistent man like it was the most offensive thing.

“Why should I?”

“The weather forecast said it’s going to rain today. I know you never check the forecast nor bring any umbrella with you. So take it, just in case.”

Baekhyun had been looking up at him with a soft naïve gaze and lips forming into a pout naturally. It had hurt Chanyeol to even look at the smaller man without wanting to pinch the other’s cheeks and pull it—Chanyeol had shaken his head aggressively, chasing away the sudden thought from his head.

“You don’t want to?” Baekhyun had tilted his head.

Chanyeol had glanced between the folded umbrella and Baekhyun’s expectant pair of eyes. He had balled his fist underneath his oversized sweater sleeves.

“No,” he had said firmly before walking away.

Baekhyun had turned out to be right about the weather; it had been raining when it was time for him to go back to his dorm. The rain had poured down like it had been holding back its emotional baggage for a long time.

Chanyeol’s brows had knitted into a frown as he stared at the heavy rain. His stomach had growled. He had sighed. _A really great time to be starving, Park Chanyeol._ He really needed to go back to his dorm if he wanted to get dinner on time. He had been contemplating to run through the rain when a shadow had loomed over his head. He had looked up to find a black umbrella shielding his head, his eyes had followed the slim hand holding it until he was met with a vibrant smile and crescent eyes.

Baekhyun had been standing on his tiptoes beside Chanyeol so he could get the open umbrella high enough to shield the taller man’s head.

Chanyeol hadn’t known what this had meant but he had felt a flip in his gut; like there had been thousands of butterflies in his stomach, swarming around like they were a permanent resident there. He had thought, for a split second, there had never been a sight as beautiful as the one before him now.

“Told you it was going to rain.” Baekhyun had chuckled as he had tried to balance himself on his tiptoes, all the while still giving Chanyeol his adorable eye smiles.

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— End of May, 2010**

“I’m a jerk,” Chanyeol declared, slouching against the chair, an empty beer can in his hand. “How could I only like him when he left me? I took him for granted, Sehun-ah,” he sobbed.

Sehun shook his head while eyeing Chanyeol judgingly from his seat.

“I can’t believe this idiot is my senior detective. He acts all smart and tough at work when he is actually just a dimwit,” Sehun mumbled under his breath. “Idiot doesn’t even realize he had been in love with his soulmate since the beginning.” Sehun rolled his eyes and let out a long suffering sigh. “So what are you going to do now? Let him go?” he asked begrudgingly.

Chanyeol’s face hardened, a sudden fire flickers in his eyes. He looked way too sober now compared to how drunk he was just a minute ago. Sehun watched him amusedly, an eyebrow arched as he crossed his arms against his chest.

“I’m going to get him back.” The poor can in Chanyeol’s hand was crumpled without any mercy after he declared his new mission.

Sehun only scoffed at his senior and shook his head.

“ _Idiot.”_

***

They had been standing by the counter for a good few minutes now, doing nothing but awkwardly looking at each other. Although Sehun was pretty sure there was nothing awkward in the way the man at the counter was boring a hole on his team leader, for all that he knew, the man could be plotting Chanyeol’s murder as they idly stood there.

“You need to stop coming here man,” Jongdae complained. “Don’t let me get you a restraining order. I’ll call the police!”

Chanyeol watched amusingly with a small smile on his face. “I am the police, sir.”

“Our justice system is corrupted.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but laugh pleasantly.

“I’m actually here to gather intel for our investigation,” Chanyeol explained while taking out a photo from inside his jacket. “Does he look familiar to you? I was under the impression that he’s a regular patron of your shop.”

Jongdae studied the photo for a second before he let out a soft gasp.

“That’s Mr. Ahn,” Jongin acknowledged. He was peeking from behind Jongdae, an empty tray in his hand.

“He is our regular here,” confirmed Jongdae. “We have heard about what happened. Is there anything we could help you with the investigation?” he asked with a serious voice.

Chanyeol placed his elbow on the counter and leaned closer. “Had he ever come here with someone? Someone like…a soulmate?”

“He always came here alone. I don’t think we ever saw him with a friend or anyone else. Right, Jongin?” Jongdae looked over his shoulder for Jongin’s support.

The younger man nodded his head. “He was always alone…You mentioned soulmate just now—must have been related to the case, I guess—thought you ought to know this: Ahn has a soulmate, had met him or her as well. I saw his soul mark, and it looked like mine.” Jongin raised his right hand, showing them his completed soul mark. “He always covered them though. I just happened to see it by accident,” Jongin ended with a shrug.

“Yeah. Jongin was the only one who had seen it. This boy right here is too nosy for his own good, sometimes.”

Chanyeol and Sehun exchanged a knowing look.

“So you have never seen his soulmate?”

Both Jongdae and Jongin nodded their head subsequently.

“He was Baekhyun’s customer though,” Jongdae added.

The taller man’s ears perked up. The name alone was enough to capture Chanyeol’s attention.

“Baekhyun was the one who always made his coffee. Mr. Ahn seemed to like his company even though he was the one who always did all the talking.”

Chanyeol hummed in understanding. His thick fingers drumming on the wooden counter as he gathered his thoughts.

“Is Baekhyun around?”

Jongdae’s smile was creepy in Sehun's opinion, almost murderous, but he was not one to judge. His team leader looked totally unaffected anyway. As if on cue, the door leading to the kitchen opened and Baekhyun stepped out with a tray of hot soup.

Chanyeol immediately stood up with a stunned expression on his face, mouth agape as he watched his soulmate pass by him. The smaller man didn’t even spare him a glance; he just kept walking as if the 6 feet giant didn’t even exist in the middle of the shop. It didn’t seem to bother Chanyeol; the man was still looking at Baekhyun like he was the only one that mattered.

“This is too painful to watch,” Sehun grimaced.

“Tell me about it.” Sehun looked to his left and found Jongin leaning against the counter with his elbow propping his head. He then cleared his throat before leaning onto the counter as well.

“Say, has your Baekhyun hyung always been like that?” Sehun discreetly asked.

“Like what?”

“Cold and distant?”

Jongin straightened up his body then, eyes narrowing as if he was assessing Sehun.

“Why should I tell you that? You’re an enemy.”

Sehun blinked a few times. He opted to look between Jongin and Chanyeol—who had not lifted his eyes off Baekhyun ever since the latter had appeared in the shop—then back to Jongin, who was still looking doubtful.

“I’m neutral,” Sehun announced, nodding slightly as if trying to convince himself more than the man in front of him.

“Baekhyun hyung isn’t cold or distant. He just had been through a lot,” Jongin answered after he deemed that Sehun wasn’t a threat. “What about him?” Jongin tilted his head to his left, pointing at Chanyeol.

“Oh, he’s just an idiot in love,” Sehun said dismissively.

They continued to watch both Chanyeol and Baekhyun until a loud crash alerted them. It happened so fast that none of them was able to react quick enough to stop it.

Baekhyun stood frozen a few steps away from one of the occupied tables. The lower part of his beige coloured shirt and slack were wet. He was trembling slightly as he cradled his left arm, patches of red appeared on the skin. Baekhyun hissed in pain at the scathing burns on his arm. The bowl of hot soup laid brokenly on the floor in front of him.

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol was by his side in a second, worrying over Baekhyun’s injury.

“I’m not paying for that!”

Their attention was temporarily drifted to the man sitting on the table near them; the same person who had caused the commotion and the bowl of hot soup to fall on Baekhyun.

“You just wasted my time. Do you even know how to do your fucking job?”

“He is more than capable of doing his job,” Yibo countered, seemingly fuming at the rude customer. He was attending the other table behind when it had happened. “You were the one who _accidentally_ slapped the bowl away when he was trying to place it on your table. The least you could do is apologize.”

The customer glared at Yibo then turned to look at Baekhyun who was still quietly watching from his spot.

“Fucking retard.” The man spat. “Bring me your boss! Is this how you treat your customer?”

Yibo slammed his palm on the table, effectively silencing the insolent man.

“The person you are asking for is him,” he stated with a rather plain expression on his face, completely masking his anger. Yibo was so close to raise his hand on the customer when he caught the latter about to open his mouth to retort again, but a hand on his chest stopped him.

Chanyeol towered over them both as he looked down on the sitting man with a tight face. Yibo took a step back, letting Chanyeol handle the rest. The taller man caught the receipt clipped on the table’s queue number. He wordlessly retrieved the receipt and took a quick glance on the name printed there.

“Mr. Jo Hyun, I think you’re done with your lunch. It's best if you take your leave now.” Chanyeol’s voice sounded an octave lower, deeper than usual as if it carried pent up rage within it.

Jo Hyun scoffed, the whole situation was too absurd for him. “And who are you?”

Chanyeol took out his police badge from his jacket inner pocket and thrust it to the man’s face without much words.

“Please leave while I’m asking nicely, Mr. Jo Hyun. Or you would like to follow me back to the station? We can charge you for causing disruption in this premise. Be my guest.” Chanyeol’s expression remained unchanged even as the man stood up with a snort and left the shop without another fight.

“Hyung, we should go to the clinic and treat your wound,” Yibo suggested as he fussed over Baekhyun.

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine,” Baekhyun assured him despite the tremor in his injured hand.

“You should quickly wash it with cold water first, Baekhyun,” urged Chanyeol. He was still standing by the table, too afraid to go closer or touch the other man.

“You’re not fine at all, Byun Baekhyun,” scolded Jongdae. “Chanyeol was right. Let's get this washed first and we’ll dab something from the first aid kit to cool it off. You’re still going to the clinic.”

Jongdae walked closer and grabbed his friend’s shoulders with both hands. He pushed Baekhyun gently towards the staff room with Yibo following closely from behind. They paused abruptly when Baekhyun stopped in his tracks. He looked over at Chanyeol and slightly bowed using his head.

“Thank you for your help,” Baekhyun gratefully thanked the taller man before he was ushered away again.

Sehun stepped closer to his team leader and joined him watching the door to the backroom closed.

“I have to admit—that was very cool of you, hyung.” Chanyeol gave him a side eye glance but remained quiet. Sehun cleared his throat. “So, uhm, should we go now?”

Chanyeol sighed. “Yes, we should.”

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— Early of June, 2020**

“What have we gathered so far?” was the first question that Chanyeol asked when they began their meeting, two days after the shop incident.

Sehun and him somehow managed to trace down Ahn Pil Sung’s soulmate with the limited, yet useful, intel that they had pulled together. By ill luck, it came to their knowledge that she had migrated to the United States earlier this year, leaving them no other option but to try and approach her virtually.

“Park Kim Shin and his soulmate were high school sweethearts,” Jisoo disclosed. Sanghyun helped to pass their report to Chanyeol, who gladly took it from him. “They went to the same university but their relationship had a fall out because—” Jisoo paused for a dramatic effect. “—he was caught cheating on her.” He smirked as his fellow colleague shook their head.

“That’s not even the best part,” Sanghyun added. “Turned out their relationship was never a real one. Apparently, Park didn’t want his soulmate nor the soul mark but they went on with it because of peer pressure.”

Jae Chan scoffed. “Wait until you hear about Jo Eun Kwon—his was nastier.” He opened the file in his hand and showed everyone the copy of an old police report. “He didn’t resign from the Kim Corporation; he was fired. There was a police case but the company covered it to save their public image.”

The police report was passed around for the others to read.

“It was a hate crime,” explained Dae Yung. “He almost beat someone to death, but luckily the victim survived and they retracted back their charges since the victim didn’t want to file any police report on Jo.”

“That’s odd. Don’t tell me the victim was…” Jisoo fumbled with his words when he realized the truth implied.

“Yes, the victim was Jo Eun Kwon’s soulmate. They had met for the first time at their workplace. He couldn’t accept that his soulmate was a man and resort to the worst kind of homophobic reaction— _violence_.”

“Fucking homophobic asshole,” spat Jae Chan, catching everyone in the room off-guard. He was usually calm and quiet; they rarely saw him losing his temper.

“Well, now that that’s out. Let’s move to our last victim.” Chanyeol gestured for Sehun to start.

“We got intel for Ahn Pil Sung’s soulmate as well. She was not in Korea, unfortunately. The gist of their relationship status is the same as the rest of the victims, although not as extreme.” Sehun tapped on his file a few times as he tried to gather his words. “He was diagnosed with clinical depression two years ago and developed a few symptoms that resulted in him cutting off his soulmate from his life—no explanation, no goodbyes. He just up and went one day, refusing any form of contact from his soulmate. In short, he lived on pretending his soulmate didn’t exist.”

“All of our victims didn’t want their soulmate,” Sanghyun concluded.

“This further proves that my hunch is right. Our serial killer had a personal grudge with soul mark bearers who refused their soulmate. It was almost as if he was punishing them for not abiding to their soulmate's fate.” Chanyeol inhaled heavily, getting lost in his own thoughts process.

“He’s a Soulmate Reaper,” Sehun blurted out absent-mindedly, causing multiple heads turning to him amusedly. “What? It suits him. He’s like a real life reaper; taking the life of people he thought have sinned greatly. It’s about time we name our killer with something other than the first murder location.” He shrugged.

“Right,” Chanyeol continued despite the amusement still thick in his head. “From the autopsy reports, I believe that our _Soulmate Reaper_ –” He paused and threw a look at Sehun, and the younger detective groaned at the blatant teasing. “—is very familiar with the chemicals he used to destroy Ahn’s soul mark. He could be working in the field where such knowledge is required or he could be studying one too. Anything could be possible here. So let’s narrow down our investigation. Maybe dig in old cases; anything related to soulmates, bring them all in. Maybe we could—”

Chanyeol was cut off by the loud knocks on the meeting room’s door. A disturbed police officer stepped in a rush, his eyes widened in urgency as he locked eyes with the senior detective.

“I’m sorry to disturb the meeting, sir.” The officer saluted before he continued, “There has been another murder!”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Sehun cussed under his breath at the news.

“But we have an eyewitness this time.” All heads jerked up at the additional news. A witness!

“Where’s the location?” asked Chanyeol.

“ _Gangdong-gu_.”

“That’s closed to the last murder scene,” Jae Chan pointed.

“Hyung,” Sehun called out Chanyeol, alarmed.

Chanyeol glanced at Sehun worriedly before he rushed out, his team following him closely from behind. _Gangdong-gu_.That was where Baekhyun’s coffee shop was located. He knew that his soulmate lived a few blocks away from the shop only.

“Who’s the witness?” Chanyeol questioned as they headed out of the station.

“We don’t have a name yet but he is still at the murder scene right now.”

“And our forensic team?”

“They’re already on their way as we speak, sir.” Chanyeol nodded briefly and patted the officer’s shoulder as a thank you before they stepped out of the station.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**part three: _the bloody camellias_ **

**_Gangdong-gu_ — Early June, 2020; an hour before**

The night breeze was chilly, a contrast to how warm Jo Hyun’s trembling face was as he was pushed against the dirty wall of the dark alley. A gloved hand fastened around his throat, blocking his airway and leaving him gasping for breath desperately. Both of Jo Hyun’s hands grabbed his assailant’s right hand on his stomach, the handle of a knife protruding against his wet palm. The smell of blood—his _own_ blood—was stronger than the bad odour of the abandoned alley.

“Not so tough now, are you Kim Jo Hyun?” the man in the mask spoke, voice laced with eerie feelings that had the wounded man’s eyes widen even more.

“What did you say about soulmates? _A stupid fairy-tale?_ ” The knife was pulled out of Jo Hyun’s belly harshly, a painful gasp could be heard. The masked man leaned forward, hovering over Jo Hyun’s terrified and pained face before he swung the knife and buried it into Jo Hyun’s bloody stomach again before twisting it. “Does this pain feel stupid to you? Soulmates like you don’t deserve to be alive when mine was taken from me.”

The knife was stabbed onto Jo Hyun’s still body for two more times before the man let go of the dead body, letting it slide down on the dirty pavement. He took out a small bottle from his pants and crouched down in front of the corpse. Jo Hyun’s wide lifeless eyes stared back at him but he ignored it as he grabbed the dead man’s wrist and inspected the tattoo hiding the soul mark. He placed the arm back to its place and started spraying the wrist with the content from the bottle.

He was watching the acid taking its effect when a sound caught his attention. He turned to his right, eyes squinting at the end of the alley where a trash can could be seen. A beat passed and a black cat jumped over the trash can before hurrying away. He stayed unmoving for a few seconds more before he glanced back to the corpse in front of him. The acid had slowly taken effect, burning the skin and flesh on the victim’s wrist.

He got up on his feet and walked to the other end of the alley, leaving his victim’s corpse bleeding on the pavement, completely oblivious to the hidden figure just beside the trash can where the cat had jumped out.

Baekhyun was paralyzed with fears while trying his very best to stay hidden. His harmless attempt to feed the stray cats while walking back home ended with him witnessing such a horrible scene. Baekhyun's shaky hands cupped his mouth tightly as he tried his best not to let out a single sound _—_ not even his breathing sounds. His back was against the wall, hidden from the people in the alley, as long as they stayed within—he prayed that they did because his wobbling feet wouldn’t be able to carry him if he needed to run for his dear life. He didn’t know how long it took for him to finally muster the strength to fish out his phone and call the police. He peeked from behind the wall and saw that the man with the mask had left, leaving a bleeding body on his wake.

***

The first thing that Chanyeol did when he arrived at the murder scene was going straight to where the victim’s body laid motionless. Minseok was there as usual, his friend looked troubled as he inspected the corpse and took a few swaps where it was needed.

“Minseok,” greeted Chanyeol as he stood beside the older man.

“Chanyeol, you are here.” Minseok got up and put the swab inside a transparent container.

“You looked troubled. What’s wrong?”

His friend shook his head. “This is the first time I see the victim get roughen up like this. Pretty sure he received a good beating before he was stabbed to death.”

Chanyeol squinted his eyes, studying the victim’s almost unrecognizable face with how much his eyes had swollen and lips busted. He looked familiar.

“Who’s our victim? He looked like someone I have seen before this.”

“He’s Kim Jo Hyun.” Sehun skidded to a stop between his two seniors.

Chanyeol’s eyebrows knitted into a frown as he tried to recall his memories of that name. “Wasn’t that the same name of the person who had caused a ruckus at Baekhyun’s shop?”

“I believe they’re the same person.” Sehun passed the victim’s ID to Chanyeol who quickly looked at the ID’s photo. He sighed. They _were_.

“Where’s our witness?”

“Uh, about that hyung…”

Chanyeol looked up questioningly at Sehun’s hesitant face. The younger man stepped aside, revealing the person Chanyeol was asking for. The said person was sitting at the opened door of the ambulance, looking pretty much shaken and agitated. The light from the opposite police car shone a light over the person's dark brown hair as he looked around with a pair of wild, terrified eyes.

“It’s Baekhyun, hyung.”

Chanyeol exhaled shakily at the revelation. He slapped the victim’s ID on Sehun’s chest, making the younger detective catch the ID clumsily while watching him approach Baekhyun.

“I honestly don’t know if Chanyeol hyung’s soulmate has really rotten luck or this is just the imprint of having that hyung—” Sehun gestured toward the walking Chanyeol. “—as his soulmate.”

Minseok's eyes widened as he looked between Chanyeol and Sehun in disbelief.

“That—that’s Chanyeol’s soulmate??”

The younger man just shrugged in return.

***

Baekhyun still felt antsy, flashes of what he had just witnessed played inside of his head like broken records. He remembered how he was rendered immobile when he saw the knife swung and stabbed into the victim’s stomach. He couldn’t bring himself to act fast enough, maybe if he did he would be able to save a life tonight. He couldn’t stop thinking about the ‘what ifs’, and the more he did, the more it killed him to know he didn’t do anything but tremble in fear.

“Baekhyun?”

He had never felt so relieved and safe over a familiar voice calling his name like he did right at that moment. He rejoiced internally at the sight of his _soulmate_ ; his tall and firm build approaching him with caution as if Baekhyun would break if he was reckless.

“Are you alright?”

Baekhyun wanted to say he was fine, because that was just how he was but when his eyes locked with Chanyeol, he caught the worries lacing in the pupils staring back at him, and his wall crumbled with his resolution—he shook his head, hesitantly at first before he got firmer with his answer.

Chanyeol settled himself beside Baekhyun, his movement was still careful and articulate.

“Do you want something to drink and calm your nerves?”

Another shook of head and Chanyeol sighed deeply.

“How did you end up here, Baekhyun?”

The said man remained silent with downcast eyes studying his locked fingers on his lap. Chanyeol gave him times to answer without urging the man further.

“Was walking home from work,” Baekhyun uttered quietly, his voice barely visible. Chanyeol craned his head closer to hear him.

“You walk home?” he dumbly asked.

Baekhyun hummed a response. “Three blocks…”

“Huh?” He looked on, confused at Baekhyun’s cryptic answer.

“My house is just three blocks away,” Baekhyun clarified with a clearer voice.

Chanyeol nodded as an acknowledgement. “Will you be well enough to testify tonight?”

Baekhyun nodded again, his lips stretched into a thin line before his head jerked up briskly to look at Chanyeol.

“How—how are we going there?” He knew that it was well past midnight now and no public transport will commence anytime soon.

“With my car. I’ll drive us to the police station.” Chanyeol paused, thinking. “Sehun will be there too if you don’t want to be alone with me on the car ride.”

Baekhyun shook his head immediately. “That’s…not the problem.” _I have no problem being alone with you._

Chanyeol fixed his gaze on Baekhyun then, ears perked up while he waited expectantly. The smaller one played with his fingers nervously again.

“Can I testify tomorrow? I’ll go there by myself first thing in the morning,” Baekhyun asked with pleading eyes, taking Chanyeol off guard.

“I honestly think it’s best if you could do it tonight but I understand if you can’t.” Chanyeol stood then, dusting his pants as he did so. “Although I won’t suggest for you to go back to your home now. It’s not safe, Baekhyun. We can’t be sure if the killer knows about you or not, and I’m not risking it,” Chanyeol said firmly.

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol for a good few seconds before he nodded wordlessly. He just simply fell silent afterward. No words were exchanged when he was ushered into the backseat of Chanyeol’s car. His eyes remained distraught, and he was jumpy and on edge even from the slightest touch or sounds, but he remained quiet and it bothered Chanyeol.

Chanyeol sneaked glances every few seconds at the mirror; Baekhyun’s restless reflection could be seen from his seat. He caught his soulmate’s wide eyes and shallow breathing as his car sped down the empty road. It should take them around 20 minutes to reach the police station but it felt longer now for no absolute reason. Sehun sagged against the passenger seat without much noise but his eyes were fixated on the side mirror, a frown marred his forehead. The car ride was quiet until they heard the sniffling and incoherent mumbling from the backseat.

“Baekhyun?”

There was no answer, just more sniffling and mumbling that gradually became louder in every passing second. Chanyeol’s soulmate was hunched at the farthest corner of the backseat; making himself smaller than he already was when he hugged his knees and hid his face in the crack between his two feet. His body rocked back and forth.

Baekhyun had never wanted to be a burden to anyone. He had always been a proper, good kid ever since he was a child. He would carry himself as carefully as he could—so long that he did not cause trouble to anyone else.

He knew very well that he wouldn’t survive the car ride. No matter how short the distance was, he knew he wouldn’t last long before he crumbled, breaking under pressure like the colourful balloons in his sixth years old birthday party—yet he let them made him sit in the exact place that had been the bane of his existence for almost a decade now because he couldn’t bring himself to cause any more trouble to Chanyeol. He would like to believe that he was doing fairly good but it didn’t get better; it got worse.

They started with a deafening silence—like they always _fucking_ did—and then they came with a bang; like an invisible force colliding into him without any mercy.

***

**_Daegu_ ** **— December 29 th, 2010 **

Baekhyun had sat at the backseat of the moving car, eyes overseeing the row of streetlights on the almost empty road. Flickers of yellow had stricken along the roadside like little fireflies. The pavement had glinted under the light; snows had decorated the surrounding like white fluffy clouds had fallen on earth.

He had had his earphones on, music blasting in the highest volume, drowning out the noises from his outside world. He hadn’t planned to follow his parents on their car ride back to _Bucheon_. He had been planning to visit his grandma by himself—because no one had wanted to get caught in the middle of a crossfire between two people who had fallen out of love—but he had wanted to get away from _Daegu._

Chanyeol’s last words before Baekhyun had left him last night had dug a hole in his heart. He was hurting yet what right did he have to flaunt his frustration? He had said he was doing it for Chanyeol; to give his soulmate a break from his annoying presence but he honestly had just wanted to run away from his reality—only that his realities had collided while he had stood at the edge, ready to freefall.

_“I’ve never wanted a soulmate.”_

Baekhyun had pulled his legs up on the seat, hugging them tighter against his chest as he had continued looking out of the window, completely ignoring the ongoing fight at the front seats.

_“That was not what you said when we first met.”_

_“Maybe because I was stupid enough to trust this stupid mark on my wrist.”_

Baekhyun had leaned his chin on top of his knees and closed his eyes.

Inhale. Exhale.

_“This soul mark is a curse!”_

_“Stop shouting! You’re the cursed one here. I’ve had enough of you and your stupid whines. Accept it, you’re stuck here with me!”_

Inhale. Exhale.

_“I’d rather die than get stuck here with you!_

_“Let’s die together then!”_

The car had swung on the slippery road at his father’s sudden pull, it had been strong enough to alarm Baekhyun. He had jolted up, eyes widened in horror as he had watched everything unfold before his eyes.

“What’s happening?”

“Mom? Dad?!” He had shouted, voice laced with dread as he had fixed his eyes on his mother. He had witnessed the changes in his mother’s eyes—the sudden realization that they hadn’t been alone, that Baekhyun had been there with them—before the car had swivelled and the strong force had caused his head to slam on the car window. He hadn’t had the chance to react when his body had spun along with the car, his head slamming against the hard surface of the glass window.

Baekhyun had felt the car spin one last time before it had lurched forward, dragging him along. There had been a loud thunderous crash, so loud that it had rung inside of his head. His body had taken the final blow before everything had gone quiet. Too quiet. He had realized later that he hadn’t been sitting with the seatbelt fastened around him anymore. He had been lying down, the seatbelt long forgotten. He had tried to reach out but his hands wouldn’t move, he had been held captive under a heavy weight that had been himself. There had been something wet damping his clothes, smearing over his face and his fingers. He hadn’t known what it was, was it the melted snow? He had hoped it had been just the snow because his mouth had tasted like iron. He had groaned weakly, feeling uncomfortable, wet and cold. _So cold._

The car had been so cold.

He hadn’t realized that he had been shivering; his teeth clattering against one another as he had tried to keep himself warm. It had been snowing outside. He had watched, with the very ounce of consciousness had left in him, as the snowflakes had fallen slowly against the window before they had made a small mountain of snow at the corner of the window.

“Help.”

He had choked on his own blood.

“Please, help me.” Tears had fallen like snowflakes on snowy days but his tears weren’t supposed to be beautiful, not when the cold from his tears and the blood from his wounds had hurt him even more.

The wait had felt like an eternity. Time had dragged in slow motion as he had laid there, waiting in agony for help—or _death_ —anything at all to come for him but it had been only hours later, when the last bit of warmth had slowly left his body that help had come like a peek of light in the darkest of night.

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— End of June, 2020**

Baekhyun submerged into reality like a fish gasping for air without water. His breathing was shallow and loud. His lungs burned as he forced them to work twice as hard. He broke into a series of coughing when it all became too much for him. He was slapped awake by the sight of the moving car he was in and in the midst of his clouded mind, the first thing that came into his mind was to seize the door handle.

_He can’t be in here. It’s hard to breathe. He can’t be here!_

Chanyeol was quick to lock the doors; his fast reflex just saved his soulmate from throwing himself out of his speeding car. Sehun twisted his upper body to look behind the passenger seat, alarmed. Baekhyun was mindlessly grabbing onto anything he could reach at the car door before he resorted to knocking his palm on the car window, scratching the glass when nothing else worked. He was crying, choking on his own breath.

“Let me out,” Baekhyun choked out. “Chanyeol, I—I need to go out! I can’t—please, _Chanyeol._ ”

Chanyeol manoeuvred his car as carefully as he could to the side of the road. He parked his car by the roadside before he flung his door open without a second thought. He was about to round his car and go to Baekhyun’s side of the door when the latter pushed open the door in a haste, alerting both Chanyeol and Sehun, who was still in the passenger seat.

Baekhyun threw himself out of the car. He fell on his knees, legs wobbling the moment he tried to put weight on them. He crawled and rose to his feet despite the difficulty and was about to bolt away from there when Chanyeol’s firm hand clasped around his arms, pulling him back until he was met with the broad firm chest of his soulmate. He struggled against Chanyeol’s strong embrace, thrashing around as he continued coughing—gasping for air desperately.

“I can’t—can’t breathe. It’s cold—Chanyeol. It was so cold,” Baekhyun cried out in the midst of his coughing and gasping for his dear life. “No one—no one came. I thought—” Baekhyun was wheezing. Pale dainty fingers grasped on Chanyeol’s jacket desperately. “—I’ll die. I can’t die yet. I haven’t—I haven’t...” Baekhyun sobbed miserably, stumbling with his words.

Chanyeol cupped Baekhyun’s face and made them face each other. He regretted it instantly. He was wrong for thinking that he was strong enough to indulge the depth of the pain in his soulmate’s eyes.

“Breathe, Baekhyun, breathe. Follow after me okay?”

“I can’t—Chanyeol, I can’t go yet,” Baekhyun gasped. His tear-stained face was damped with snots and drool but Chanyeol could only see his beautiful soulmate in pain, nothing else. He wiped away the tears with his thumbs.

“You’re not going anywhere, baby. You’re here with me. Hmm?” Chanyeol’s voice was deep yet soothing to the ears.

Baekhyun stopped moving and locked his gaze onto the man who was embracing him. “Chanyeol?”

“Yes, baby. I’m here. I’m here now.”

Chanyeol swallowed painfully at the sight before his eyes. His soulmate looked so broken and lost that it pained him so much. His mind reeled back to the times where they were not together and he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what the hell had happened.

_What had happened to you, Baekhyun?_

Chanyeol buried his face on Baekhyun’s neck, letting his soulmate rest his chin on his shoulder as he leaned down to match the smaller man’s height. Chanyeol’s hands wrapped around his soulmate’s back carefully before he started patting him gently. He moved his lips closer to Baekhyun’s ear and softly hummed a lullaby—the same lullaby that Baekhyun had hummed for him many years ago, hoping that it would help to soothe his nerves. He gently rocked their bodies together in a soothing way.

Baekhyun’s breathing slowed down as he gradually gained his rhythm again. He inhaled a decent amount of air and closed his eyes, letting the fatigue from his outburst take over him. Baekhyun sagged against Chanyeol’s body without a warning but Chanyeol caught him timely before he slid down to the ground.

He looked up to Sehun, who had one of his legs out of the car and hands holding on to the car door. The younger detective nodded silently before he fully stepped out of the car and opened the backseat door.

“I’ll send you both to your apartment?”

Chanyeol nodded gratefully, lifting the unconscious man gently with his two arms. Baekhyun snuggled closer to him, warm breath hitting Chanyeol’s neck as he kept his soulmate close to him.

It took them another 30 minutes to reach Chanyeol’s apartment. Sehun had left shortly after dropping them off, driving Chanyeol’s car with the promise that he would take care of the car with his own life. The senior detective just waved him off, hands already full with Baekhyun who was now fast asleep.

Chanyeol placed him on his own bed as gently as he could, afraid that he would wake up the smaller man. He made an effort to take off Baekhyun’s shoes and socks. He was about to tuck Baekhyun’s hands under the blanket when he caught the bandage around the other man’s wrist. His fingers faltered at the sudden realization—his soulmate had been living while hiding his soul mark and the mere thought of it broke his heart.

Chanyeol remembered during their younger days, he would always catch Baekhyun looking fondly over his soul mark, sometimes he would show off his mark to his friends; proudly telling them about how pretty his mark or how great his soulmate had been. He wouldn’t shut up about it. It used to irk Chanyeol so much because he wasn’t really into the idea of having a soulmate—wasn’t really fond of his soul mark either but then, look at where he was now.

 _“Chanyeol-ah, look! Our marks look so pretty under the sunlight!”_ Baekhyun would chirp out happily, placing his wrist beside Chanyeol and making his hands face the sunlight to make his points.

And Chanyeol? He would glance at their marks with very little interest but wouldn’t say anything nor do anything about it either. He would then pretend he hadn’t seen the sad look flash in his soulmate’s eyes because his soulmate would always end up smiling at him anyway.

He couldn’t remember a day where he hadn’t been granted with that beautiful smile during their days in College. He had lost the privilege for a long time now that he was barely able to count; a decade long and there wasn’t a day that passed by that he didn’t regret it.

Baekhyun stirred in his sleep. Chanyeol sighed. Baekhyun looked sad and troubled even in his sleep and it bothered him. Baekhyun’s eyebrows knitted into a frown and Chanyeol had a strong urge to make it disappear. Time stilled for them when Chanyeol brought his finger and pressed it gently on the skin between the sleeping man’s eyebrows, easing the frown marring the other’s face.

“Sleep well, Baekhyunee,” Chanyeol whispered before he walked out of the room, preparing to sleep on his couch tonight.

***

Baekhyun woke up in an unfamiliar room. The only source of light was the small table lamp beside the bed but it was set to the lowest brightness so the room was dimmed. He jostled around in panic when he realized the unfamiliarity, an accustomed reflex but the pain surged in his muscles as the slight movement had him groaning quietly. He felt too disoriented and exhausted that he had half a mind to continue laying on the bed and sleep. Flashes of what had happened prior to his current predicament made Baekhyun groan again, frustratedly.

He found his watch on the bedside table and quickly checked on the time. It was four in the morning; he had been out for almost four hours. Baekhyun bit his lower lips while nervously looking around the dimmed room, trying to figure out where he was. A single frame on the cabinet beside the bathroom’s door caught his attention.

He stepped as quietly as he could and each step he took closer to the frame sent a tug to his heart and his soul mark, still hidden beneath the white bandage, tingled excitedly. He stopped right in front of the cabinet, hands shakily reaching for the frame while his eyes desperately tried to blink away his unshed tears.

He remembered when it was taken—it had been autumn; red and gold were blanketing the trees in waves, like they had made a home there. A beautiful crisp kind of beauty. The weather had been cool and rather stormy but they had gone out. Baekhyun had been beyond excited because it had been the first time he had been invited to join Chanyeol and his friends’ hangout. All of them had been familiar with Baekhyun by then but Baekhyun had been specifically comfortable with Junmyeon; the oldest one amongst them.

Junmyeon had also been the one who had insisted them to take the photo. Baekhyun had been standing closely beside his giant soulmate, his shoulder had brushed against the other’s chest. Baekhyun himself had been smiling brightly at the camera, a peace sign on his outstretched left hand while Chanyeol—his soulmate had been stealing a glance at him, his round eyes had looked half closed as he had them downcast to look at Baekhyun. Chanyeol’s full lips had been tugged upward slightly, he didn’t look like he had been smirking—more to him restraining himself from breaking into a smile.

That was the only photo they had had together.

That was also the only time Baekhyun had felt like he still had hope despite his soulmate's impassive responses to every advance that he had made.

Baekhyun swallowed back the sob threatening to come out of his mouth, holding back himself from breaking down right there and then. He had long lost the photo when his phone was beyond fixed after the car accident. The only thing he had left of his soulmate was the faded soul mark and the stubborn memories etched in his mind.

Park Chanyeol had never left his mind even when they were separated miles apart. How he had survived those years without his soulmate present, he didn’t know. But he had walked through each day of his life feeling numb and hollow since the accident.

Baekhyun placed the frame back to where it belonged. The question as to why Chanyeol still kept the photo in his room was pushed to the farthest corner of his mind. He inspected the room again, taking in every little thing that represents his now adult soulmate. Chanyeol had changed a lot since their college days and Baekhyun could see it, and had noticed it from their few encounters.

He decided to step out of the room, trying to find the owner of the place he just slept in. The house was quiet, he wondered if Chanyeol was still awake at this late hour. He padded down passed two more doors leading to other rooms and walked into the kitchen.

Chanyeol was sitting at the kitchen counter stool, the only light illuminating his features was the table lamp from the living hall across the kitchen. Baekhyun paused, stopping at the end of the hallway, his eyes fixed onto Chanyeol who was drinking alone in his kitchen. The other man was staring blankly into the empty space until he noticed a movement from the corner of his eyes. Their eyes met each other and time stilled for the both of them; nobody made a move or said anything for what seemed like forever.

“You are awake.” Chanyeol broke the silence that had them locked in a moment. “Do you feel better?”

Baekhyun looked away instantly, clearing his unclogged throat awkwardly. “Yes.” He paused, contemplating his next words. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“You shouldn’t apologize. You’re never a trouble for me, Baekhyun-ah.” Chanyeol’s expression was soft when Baekhyun gazed up to him. He worried over his bottom lip.

“For the longest time, I thought I was.”

“Then I’m the one who should apologize. I’m sorry for making you feel like that Baekhyun. I was an immature brat back when we were in college and you…you deserved better.” Chanyeol’s eyes were still very much fixed on Baekhyun and he could see the sincerity and the maturity in those eyes.

Chanyeol had aged well and Baekhyun’s numb heart swelled at the thought of it.

He was left with no words, unsure of what would be a proper answer to say. He ended up sighing when his mind failed to give a quick enough response.

“Would you like something to drink?” Chanyeol asked after a moment.

To this, Baekhyun nodded shyly. “Please?”

Chanyeol looked over at the cans of beer on his kitchen counter then back to Baekhyun, a smile threatening to appear in his lips. “Can you hold your beer now?”

Baekhyun paused in front of the stool and blinked confusedly at the taller one.

“Uhm. No.”

“I see you haven’t changed much.” Chanyeol broke into a soft chuckle as he rose up from the stool, pretending that he didn’t see the faint colour of red blossoming on his soulmate’s cheeks.

“Will strawberry milk be okay for you?” Baekhyun’s face jerked up almost instantly when he asked this.

“You have that?” Baekhyun asked as if it was too absurd for Chanyeol to have one in his fridge. Chanyeol smiled at him in return and took a bottle of strawberry milk from his fridge.

“Yes, I do. Here.” He pushed the milk toward Baekhyun who was now sitting on the stool, facing him.

“But… you hate strawberry milk,” Baekhyun mumbled quietly like he was talking to himself because Chanyeol really did hate that milk flavour back when they were still teenagers adapting to college life. Baekhyun had been the one who loved strawberry and he still was despite reaching thirty this year.

“Well, I guess I’ve changed,” Chanyeol answered him anyway. A soft smile adorning his face as he watched Baekhyun reaching for the bottle.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun wiped his mouth clean after finishing off the whole bottle. He didn’t realize how thirsty he had been until he tasted the first drop of the milk.

“Baekhyun…do you actually think that I hate you?”

Chanyeol’s question was asked in such a timid way that it caught Baekhyun off-guard. He quickly composed himself, eyes looking anywhere but Chanyeol.

“Rather than me, I thought it was our soul marks that you hated.”

Chanyeol directed his gaze on the grey camellias around his right wrist, then at Baekhyun’s bandaged wrist.

“Is that why you had yours in a bandage?” He prompted with eyes that looked genuinely curious rather than accusing, but it still made Baekhyun grab his wrist by reflex.

“Tha—that wasn’t the reason. I just—I’m…” Baekhyun stammered.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to explain yourself. I’d understand whatever reason you had for doing that but Baekhyun, I think I need to say this to you—I don’t hate our soul mark.” Chanyeol unconsciously rubbing a soothing circle on the mark. “I was a fool who thought that my feelings for you solely came from bearing the soul mark. I hated that idea because I have wanted to fall for you by my own free will—I was stupid enough to think that I could have controlled my feelings without the soul mark—not knowing that I was attracted to you from the first moment you waved at me from across the street. I was already fond of you when I ate the lunch boxes you had diligently made for me. And I—” He locked his eyes with his other half and swallowed. “—while ignoring the existence of our soul marks, had fallen for you when you had smiled at me under our shared umbrella. It was never the soul marks; it was yours doing all along. And I realized it too late.”

Baekhyun breathed shakily. He blinked and the first tear escaped before he could stop it. He reached the clip on his bandage with tremors in his fingers.

“There was an accident,” Baekhyun blurted out. His voice sounded so sad and low, Chanyeol felt his heart clench painfully just by hearing him.

“It was snowing and the road was slippery.” Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun began unrolling the bandage. “My parents, they weren’t on a good term—hadn’t been for a long time. It took them only twenty-five years to lose their sparks. I thought it was the soul marks; broken and unfixable but no, it wasn’t. It was just them falling out of love. They had a fight in the car and the next thing I know, I was laying in the cold; bleeding and holding onto the last bit of warmth that my body could offer. It took hours for help to come and I woke up to my hand on a cast.”

The last of the bandage cloth left Baekhyun’s wrist, putting his bare wrist on full display and Chanyeol could finally see what Baekhyun had been hiding. It wasn’t the soul mark. His breath hitched at what he was seeing and his fingers unconsciously reached out to touch the deep stroke of scar on top of Baekhyun’s pale skin.

“They said I probably blocked the shreds of glasses with my hand. Sometimes when it gets too cold, the scar stings and I am reminded of that night.”

Chanyeol traced the scar crossing one of the greyed out camellias. Baekhyun didn’t try to stop him.

“Why didn’t you come back to me?” He looked up to Baekhyun, gauging the smaller man’s reaction to his question.

“What happened to my parents scarred me, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun breathed in. “I do not want the same thing to happen to us, to you. You deserved to have your freedom.”

“Then, will you allow me to have my freedom to choose now?”

Baekhyun stared back questioningly at the man sitting in front of him. Chanyeol’s fingers fitted themselves in the spaces between Baekhyun’s pretty fingers and he raised their arms until their soul marks brushed against each other. Baekhyun gasped softly. The touch felt like the beginning of spring where the flowers bloom; like the rebirth of a new life, an awakening. He gaped at their interlocked fingers—at the faint hue of pink starting to bloom on their camellias; the ones right on top on their pulse.

“Will you allow me to court you now, Byun Baekhyun?”

_“May I court you now, Park Chanyeol?”_

Baekhyun’s eyes faltered, he was stupefied by Chanyeol’s sudden advance. It felt too early, too fast for them.

“Chanyeol, you know that love alone won’t be enough. They’re not forever—”

“With the right person, they will _last_ forever.”

Baekhyun sighed. “You will regret this.”

“Baekhyun, I’m asking you not as the young Chanyeol who didn’t know any better. I’m asking you as a man, Baekhyun. So no, I won’t regret it.”

“What if we end up like my parents? What will you do then?”

“I cannot promise you that everything will always be alright without a bump or a scratch. Us humans are born to a fault; we are naturally flawed. But I’m willing to take the responsibility—” Chanyeol placed his palm on Baekhyun’s chest, right where his heart was beating against his ribcage. “—if you allow me to take care of this.”

Baekhyun reached up and wrapped his hand around Chanyeol’s wrist. His sigh was deep and tired.

“Chanyeol…”

***

**_Seoul_ ** **— June, 2020**

Chanyeol was staring at empty spaces, too deep in his thoughts to notice that Sehun had walked into his office. The young man stood by his desk with a raised eyebrow and hands on hips. Despite being aware of how work-focused Chanyeol could be sometimes, Sehun doubted that the ones occupying the detective’s mind was anything related to their murder case. It probably had something to do with their eyewitness; whom Chanyeol had personally brought in and sent back by his motorcycle a few days ago.

“You looked occupied, should I come back later?”

If Chanyeol was surprised by his appearance, he didn’t show it. The older man just blinked and awkwardly straightened his sitting posture.

“What is it, Sehun?”

“Minseok hyung asked me to pass the autopsy report to you.” The folder exchanged hands between them both before Sehun continued reporting, “He mentioned that our Soulmate Reaper’s approach was different for this victim.”

Chanyeol immediately read through the detailed report with furrowed brows, his lips slowly pressed together into a thin line the more he read the report. He looked up from the folder to Sehun who was still standing in front of him, seemingly waiting for his next instruction.

“Our fourth victim was beaten quite badly, huh?” Chanyeol placed the report on his desk and leaned back against his chair.

“I wouldn’t call it quite, it was bad. All of our other victims were an immediate kill but this one felt different. It was either Kim Jo Hyun put up a fight or our Reaper had personal grudge with him.”

Chanyeol linked his fingers together while resting his elbows on the chair’s arms. “And what do you think it will be?”

“I think it’s the latter. He purposely avoided stabbing the important organs in the first three stabs, dragging the murder time. That wasn’t the case with the other three victims.”

The older detective nodded his head, a proud smile on his face as he fixed his gaze on Sehun's rather stoic face.

“Thank you, Sehun.” Chanyeol pinched his nose bridge. “The higher ups have been drilling holes in my ears about the case because we haven’t even had a suspect yet.”

“Do you think they deserve it?”

Chanyeol glanced up at Sehun when the latter asked him the question. The younger man looked like he was genuinely curious so Chanyeol decided to entertain him.

“Do you have a soulmate, Sehun?”

Sehun looked down at his team leader on the desk and blinked before he went to pull his jacket sleeve upward, revealing his soul mark bracelet.

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol was surprised at first but smiling afterward. “I keep learning new things about you, Oh Sehun. Since you have one too, then you must understand the concept well. Do you think they deserve it, Sehun?”

The younger man fixed his gaze on Chanyeol but was quiet for a while, seemingly contemplating the answer itching to slip pass his thin lips but Chanyeol saw the changes on Sehun’s face as he bit his lower lip and answer, “Personally, some of them deserved to be punished for what they have done but, no. I don’t think they deserved to be murdered.”

“That’s right. As a soul mark bearer myself, who had lost my own soulmate for a decade, I felt disgusted, angry and repulsed by what these people have done—wasting the chance they have to be with their fated ones, but that doesn’t justify the murders. And it is our job as the law defender to set things right.”

Chanyeol did a quick once over at his watch and got up from his seat.

“It’s late. We should go home for tonight.” Sehun arched his eyebrows at his team leader's sudden announcement. Chanyeol was usually pretty much married to his works and sometimes he forgot to go home. It was quite unusual for him to say such a thing. Chanyeol seemed to notice his reaction and cleared his throat quickly.

“I have something else to attend to.”

 _More like someone,_ Sehun snorted inwardly at his superior’s antics.

“Can you have them bring out the old cases files that I requested by tomorrow?” Chanyeol asked before he headed out.

“I’ve already informed them; the files should be ready by tomorrow,” affirmed Sehun.

“Great! I’ll see you later then, Oh Sehun.” Chanyeol patted the other man’s shoulder and dashed off, leaving an amused Sehun behind.

***

Chanyeol arrived at the coffee shop an hour before it was closed. A smile adorned his face as he approached the man at the counter, who Chanyeol had concluded was not really fond of his frequent visit to the shop these days. He was much smaller than Chanyeol but quite intimidating when he was busy scrutinizing his eyes at Chanyeol like what he was doing right now.

All of his soulmate’s friends were quite scary to him anyway.

“Good evening, Jongdae,” he greeted with a smile.

“Not so good evening to you. What can I get you, Park?”

“One ice Americano please.” Chanyeol scanned the almost empty shop, there were still a few patrons enjoying their drinks and snacks but it wasn’t a busy night for Camellias, it seemed.

“Do you want a Baekhyun to go with that?’

“A what?” Chanyeol asked distractedly. Jongdae just sighed exasperatedly before he teared off the order receipt from the machine and looked at the taller man with a rather huffy face.

“Your order will be done shortly. Please have a seat.”

Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck, confused but decided to just drop it and choose his seat by the window. It was a few minutes later, when he was busy looking out at the passer by in the street, that an iced Americano was placed on his table. He was about to thank whoever sent the drink to him when he looked up and met the unamused face of his soulmate. Baekhyun was wearing a white shirt, sleeves folded till his forearms and dark grey jeans to complete his perfect appearance. Even after managing his coffee shop the whole day, his soulmate still looked beautiful and neat, it left Chanyeol staring at him with a slightly agape mouth.

“I thought that life as a police officer is busy?” Baekhyun arched an eyebrow.

“It is. I’m working on a case right now.” He knew that Baekhyun wasn’t exactly asking him a question, more to spite on him but he would be glad to entertain his soulmate, as long as the other would continue talking to him.

“You looked quite free from how you’ve been coming here every night.”

Chanyeol grinned sheepishly, the tip of his round eyes stretched, forming lines that showed his age and Baekhyun grimaced at the sight. He wondered briefly how did his young self be so smitten over this creepy giant.

“I have time to spare.”

“I thought you have a serial murder to solve?” Baekhyun took a seat opposite Chanyeol then watched in silence as the others sipped on his drink. His soulmate still loved drinking his iced Americano strong, he noted.

“Yes,” Chanyeol answered nonchalantly. “But I also have a duty here. It’s part of the witness protection program.” His long arms made random gestures as he spoke. Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

“You’re just using that as an excuse to come see me.”

It was true, _partially._ He didn’t tell Baekhyun that he had stationed two of his men at Baekhyun’s home, just for precautions. He knew his soulmate wouldn't approve of it should he learn what Chanyeol had instructed his team to do.

“And what if I do?”

Baekhyun sighed.

“I’ve told you, this is too fast. I need time.”

“Never said I won’t give you one,” Chanyeol answered with a shrug.

“Well, you don’t look like you’re giving one to me.”

Chanyeol turned to the cup on the table, hand stirring the ices in the drink slowly. “I’ve waited for ten years, Baekhyun. I can wait another ten years if you want me to, but let me do it with you close to me?” He looked up and locked his eyes on the other’s mesmerizing slanted eyes.

Baekhyun looked stunned at first but was quick to compose himself. The chair made a stretching sound when Baekhyun pushed it back to get up from his seat.

“We are closing the shop soon. Will you be here then?”

Chanyeol looked up to him, looking surprised by the implication of his question but a smile slowly creeped into his lips before he nodded.

“Yes.”

Baekhyun only acknowledged his answer with a blink of his eyes before he walked away to start preparing for the shop closure. Chanyeol walked out of the shop half an hour later, deciding that he could wait outside while giving them space to clean the shop. The scowls he received from both Jongin and Jongdae when he offered to help was still quite fresh in his head. Kyungsoo seemed to be the only one who didn’t exactly hate him but he wouldn’t say the smaller man liked him either. Kyungsoo always looked at him like he was waiting for Chanyeol to fuck up, so he could chop him into pieces and buried him somewhere. Chanyeol shivered at the mere thought of it.

He hopped on the seat of his bike and was about to lean on it when he noticed the folded paper, slotted neatly in the gap between the handle bar. Chanyeol retrieved it and did a quick read on the message written in scrawny handwriting after unfolding it.

_‘Back off or he’s next.’_

Chanyeol didn’t know what he was supposed to be backing off from or who was the ‘ _he’_ mentioned in the note, but he had an idea that it was related to the Soulmate Reaper’s cases. This could only mean that the killer was here while he was in the shop. He looked around, trying to figure out anything unusual in his surroundings but couldn’t find any. The thought that the killer was lingering around his soulmate’s place didn’t sit right with him. He clenched his fist and jaw, the note in his hand crumpled along with his anger.

“Chanyeol?”

The said man was snapped back from his thoughts by his soulmate’s voice calling him. Baekhyun was standing beside his bike with a worried look on his face. Chanyeol’s expressions soften at the sight.

“Are you alright?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yes, I was just thinking about work. It’s nothing.” He smiled. “Are you done?” he asked Baekhyun in return and stole a glance at his now closed shop.

Baekhyun nodded his head. “The others had gone home first.”

“Do they know about what happened?” The word _murder_ and _witness_ were left out on purpose. Baekhyun only shook his head.

“I’d rather them be clueless about it. They can be quite overbearing when they’re worried and I don’t want to add more burden on their shoulders.”

Chanyeol nodded in understanding.

“I’ll send you home then?” He wasn’t really asking but knowing Baekhyun now, he wouldn’t do things unless it was on his own will. Chanyeol thrust the helmet to him with an expecting face.

Baekhyun looked between the helmet thrust to him and Chanyeol before he took the helmet wordlessly. He took his time to wear it then proceeded to climb the bike without waiting for Chanyeol’s instruction. The other man was beaming at him the whole time and he wasn’t sure how to react to it.

“Where’s your car?” Baekhyun asked right before Chanyeol turned on the engine.

“At my house. I thought you’d be more comfortable riding a bike.”

Chanyeol’s answer was nonchalant but it tugged on Baekhyun’s heart in a way that left him breathless. The gesture was small but it was enough to crumble his already cracked walls. He wrapped his slim hands around Chanyeol’s firm torso when he noticed that the other was ready to ride off. Baekhyun couldn’t see it but he was very sure that his soulmate was smiling widely in front of him now.

***

**_Seoul_ — June, 2020**

It had been two days—two long days of Chanyeol and half of his team reading through every possible case that was linked to soulmates. Nothing that they had found so far could relate to the current serial murder and Chanyeol had half a heart to give up on the idea that they would find anything useful in these old cases.

“Jae Chan, do we have any records about anyone that could possibly hold any personal grudge against our latest victim?”

“Well, our last victim was the kind of man who had a lot of enemies, or so it seemed.” Chanyeol took the file passed to him from the said man and looked through the list of names.

“Considering how he was behaving in our last encounter; he sure did,” Chanyeol acknowledged.

“Argh. I can’t do this anymore!” Jisoo groaned from behind the piles of thick reports of old cases. “None of these old cases were helpful. Can we even find anything, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol smiled apologetically while he placed the report on the desk.

“I wish I could say something positive or encouraging but I have none right now. Just keep digging, Jisoo.” He heard muffled sounds of dying whales from behind the mountain of papers.

“Yah Jae Chan-ah, let’s order take-out delivery. It’s already past nine! We haven’t even had dinner yet.”

Chanyeol rose up in a rush, almost knocking off his chair. “Fuck. I forgot to pick up Baekhyun.”

“Chanyeol hyung, wait!” Sehun shouted from across the room, on his own pile of old reports. “You have to see this first. I found something!”

“What is it?” Chanyeol asked as all of them rushed to Sehun, who was still flipping through the report in his hands.

“Here.” Sehun passed the report to Chanyeol for the man to read through. “I found it from the pile of cases in 2014.”

“That’s six years ago,” Jisoo calculated and Sehun nodded in agreement.

“I just found it similar with our current murder case but it was in different context.”

“What do you mean?” Sanghyun asked.

“The killer didn’t have the same motive as our Soulmate Reaper,” Chanyeol answered Sanghyun’s question then gestured to Sehun to finish his explanation as he passed the report back to him.

“It was ruled out as hate crime. The victim's name was Xiao Zhan, a Chinese man. He moved here with his soulmate to further their studies. The first few years of their stay in Korea was good and cleaned until they got caught in a conflict with Roe Dae-Hyun.”

“Roe Dae-Hyun? His name sounds familiar,” Jae Chan mumbled with a frown on his face.

Sehun tilted his head at the other man. “You might find him familiar because of the controversies he created. The man was an extreme activist against the soulmates system; he _really_ hated soulmates and their soul mark privilege. Roe Dae-Hyun had done a lot of questionable things that were against the law to push his agenda forward—went in and out of jail quite a number of times as well. And Xiao Zhan happened to be a righteous man. It seemed like he had caught Roe doing impeccable things and had been set to go against him and bring him to justice—that hadn’t ended well as you can see.”

Sehun placed the open report on the desk, displaying the page with the murder scene photos.

“Xiao Zhan had been murdered in front of his soulmate when they had been out on a date. His soulmate had been stabbed first, just to paralyze him and Xiao Zhan has been stabbed multiple times while his soulmate could only watch it happen.”

“ _Fuck_. What the fuck is wrong with people?” Jisoo blurted out in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine himself being in the soulmate’s shoes. That would be a traumatizing memory.

“Did he survive? The soulmate?” Sanghyun asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

“He did.” Sehun sighed. “The police had come on time and he had been saved, although he barely made it alive.”

“It says here that Roe Dae-Hyun status is deceased.” Jae Chan pointed at the report.

“He has been shot to death on the spot by the police and the soulmate had disappeared when the police had decided to close the case since the killer was dead.” Sehun kindly informed. 

"On top of that, try and guess what did the soulmate studied before the tragedy?"

He paused.

"Chemical Engineering." He looked up and met the eyes of his fellow colleagues, who in turn, froze at the sudden realization.

" _Fuck_."

“What’s the name of this soulmate?” Chanyeol asked, brows knitted together and lips sealed into a thin line. He had a bad feeling about this whole thing. Something didn’t sit right with him.

“It was someone that you know,” Sehun answered and that alone was enough to get Chanyeol grabbing his phone frantically, the sounds of his heartbeat against his ribcage was loud. He prayed to lords above that he was wrong.

 _“Chanyeol?”_ Baekhyun’s honey voice answered softly.

“Baekhyun. Where are you right now?”

_“I’m closing the shop. Why?”_

“Where are your friends?” Chanyeol’s clutch on the phone tightened as he waited for the answer.

 _“They went back already. Jongin wasn’t feeling well, so I asked them to leave first. You don’t have to come tonight, Yeol. I can just walk home like usual. You should focus on your case.”_ Baekhyun had always been so considerate, so independent that it worried him sometimes.

“Baekhyun, listen. I need you to go inside your shop now and lock the door. Don’t let anyone in until I come. Not even your friends.”

_“What? Why would I do that?”_

“Baekhyun, please. Just do as I say,” Chanyeol begged. The line was quiet for a second and then he heard footsteps approaching from the other line.

“Baekhyun?”

 _“Oh. What are you doing here? Did you leave anything in the shop?”_ He heard his soulmate’s voice in the distance; Baekhyun must have pulled the phone away from his ear.

“Baekhyun, who is that?”

He heard a muffled voice from the other end, nothing made sense to him but it was enough to make him anxious.

 _“Chanyeol, I’ll talk to you later? Eung_?”

“Baekhyun— _fuck!_ ” Baekhyun didn’t even wait for Chanyeol’s reply when he disconnected the phone call, leaving Chanyeol frantic. The detective completely disregarded his worried audiences and tried calling his soulmate again.

_“The number you have dialled is unreachable…”_

Chanyeol’s head jerked at his team, alerting everyone who had been watching their leader losing his mind on the phone.

“Who’s in charge of Baekhyun tonight?” Chanyeol asked with wide eyes.

“It’s Dae Yung.”

Chanyeol didn’t wait any second longer and quickly dialled another number.

“Dae Yung, report. Where’s Baekhyun?” There was a pause. “What do you mean you don’t know?!” he half-yelled into the phone when he heard the answer. “You’re supposed to keep an eye on him! Go back to the shop and find him. _Please._ ”

“Hyung?”

He heard it, Sehun’s voice calling for him but all that he could think about was Baekhyun— _Baekhyun, Baekhyun, Baekhyun…_

_“The number you have dialled is unreachable…”_

_“The number you have dialled is unreachable…”_

_“The number you have dialled is unreachable…”_

_“The number you have dialled is unreachable…”_

“Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol swallowed shakily as he turned around to face Sehun and the rest of his team. He clutched the phone tightly in his hand as the voicemail echoed loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. He knew the Soulmate Reaper was never one to keep his victim alive long enough for anyone to find them. He couldn’t—he wouldn’t forgive himself if he let that happen to Baekhyun.

“I know who is our killer’s next target.”

_“The number you have dialled is unreachable…”_

“Please help me find Byun Baekhyun.”

***

Baekhyun opened his eyes groggily to a darkened room. The light from the outside was the only source of light in the room, sufficient for Baekhyun to see his surroundings, should he try hard enough. He tried to move his fingers and touched the dirt under his hands, feeling it between his fingers; _dust._ The room was dusty; he could taste them in his mouth when he breathed in. He coughed out the dirty air he swallowed.

_What happened?_

He tried to recall the events leading to his current situation. He remembered talking to Chanyeol on the phone when someone came to him. He was chatting with that person and turning his back at them to lock the shop grill gate. He was about to get up when a wet cloth was shoved to his face, effectively blocking his nose and mouth, forcing him to inhale the chemical that was meant to make him unconscious.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened and his body jerked up on reflex, finally digesting the dire situation he was put into.

“Oh, you’re awake. That was a lot faster than I expected,” a voice spoke from a corner.

Baekhyun spun around, eyes looking around in the dark room wildly. He found _him_ then; the person who had brought him here, leaning against the dirty wall with his hand on top of his knee. He was swirling something in between his fingers.

 _Yibo_.

“Why are you doing this, Yibo?” Baekhyun croaked out with his hoarse voice. His throat felt dry and the dust wasn’t helping.

“Honestly, I don’t want to do this,” Yibo answered, fingers still swirling the item in his hand.

“Then why?”

Yibo rose up from where he was seated and approached the captive man on the floor with a haughty smile etched on his face. He crouched down right in front of Baekhyun, at the end of the older man’s folded legs.

“Your soulmate, hyung,” he started. “He’s too stubborn. Too good with his job. He was getting on my way and I was supposed to get rid of him but you…” Yibo sniggered. “You just have to see things you shouldn’t see, hyung.”

Baekhyun stared at the younger man with wide-eyed eyes. His breath hitched as he was reminded of what he had seen.

“You!” He pointed accusingly at the man he had known as his part-timer until tonight, Yibo had smirked at him then. “You did—you _killed_ them!”

“I did. They deserved it though; the torture, the death. Their existence disgusts me,” Yibo sneered with twisted lips. “They don’t deserve the soul marks that my soulmate had been fiercely defending until it took his own life.” There was sadness trailing the slow laughter that came out from Yibo’s mouth. “I just want to protect the only thing he had left behind for me. He still had a long life ahead of him. He was so smart—the most beautiful person I’ve ever met but he was righteous to a fault. I watched that _bastard_ kill him before my eyes and you want me to spare the lives of those people? How funny. That would be a disrespect to my Zhan-ge. Anyone who doesn’t appreciate the soulmate gifted to them doesn’t deserve to live.”

Yibo turned his head to Baekhyun then, the left tip of his lips was pulled up into a smirk.

“I know what you’re hiding beneath that bandage, hyung. I know what you did for the past ten years, too.”

He leaned closer to the trembling man who was throwing a dagger at him with his pitiful eyes.

“That was not a very nice thing to do, Baekhyun hyung.”

Baekhyun’s fingers balled into a fist. He couldn’t look away from the manic glint in Yibo’s eyes, didn’t dare to look away even if he was permitted a chance. How could he not notice the craze in the younger man’s eyes whenever they locked eyes at the shop? How could he be stupid enough to not realize this sooner?

“I’m feeling generous tonight. You’ve been nothing but a kind hyung to me since I started working for you. Thank you.” For a split second, there was a genuine soft smile on Yibo's face but it hardened again as fast as it came. “I’ll give you leverage. Why don’t we play a game?”

Baekhyun said nothing. He remained silent from his position on the dirty floor, too overwhelmed with fears to even move. He bit his lower lip unconsciously as he tried to calm his nerves.

“I’ll count to ten. Run and hide, hyung. If I found you then I won’t spare you.”

It took a second for Baekhyun to fully process what Yibo had meant. He didn’t wait until the other man started counting for him to push himself up and bolted out of the room, away from the maniac crouched on the floor full of dust and dirt.

“One…”

Baekhyun ran as fast as his feet allowed him despite the dark hallway. He almost stumbled a few times trying to get his footing in the dark. The loud thumping of his heart, begging to be let out of its cage was the only thing he could hear apart from his rushed clumsy footsteps. He ripped on the bandage covering his wrist and hid the cloth in his pocket, afraid to leave any trail behind.

“Two…”

Baekhyun glanced at the pink hues of his soul mark. He closed the mark, engulfing it with his dirty hand. He felt the warmth emanate from the glowing mark touching the skin of his palm and he sighed at the comfort it gave him. He had never seen it glow like that before, especially not since the last ten years when his mark had sulked and faded when he left his soulmate.

“Three…”

His thoughts reeled back to Chanyeol; his soulmate who had grown so much as a man. His soulmate whom he had longed for his entire lifetime. He felt sorry that he had to leave him again when they had just reconciled, when he was about to open his heart again.

“Chanyeol-ah, I’m sorry,” he whispered at the mark before kissing it goodbye.

***

Chanyeol skidded to a stop in front of a closed shop. His harsh breathing was loud as he ran his hand through his black hair. His team was scattered around the area. An hour had passed since the phone call and with each second passing by, Chanyeol could feel the dread washed over him, weighing heavier than the previous ones.

He was about to start running around again when he felt the stinging pain from his soul mark. His eyes shifted immediately to his soul mark that was now glowing faintly with the pink hues, the flowers blooming in each sharp intake of breath he took. He placed the tip of his fingers on the mark and was greeted with a sudden surge of fears; it was so sudden, so strong that he pulled his fingers out of shock.

_What was that?_

He touched the mark again, felt the fears shift to panic, overwhelming and blanketing his entire being that he gasped at the strong emotions. He knew these didn’t belong to him.

This was something else.

“Baekhyun?” he blurted out as he wrapped his hand around his right wrist, completely covering every inch of his soul mark.

He felt it then, the rush of emotions coming over him like a big tidal of waves. A storm so cold it crippled his soul. He shut his eyes closed, chasing after the flashes of images coming to him, unfocused and blurry before they sharpened—darkness, doors, a lot of broken doors, dirty walls and trashes. Sweaty hands grabbing the walls. His grasp on his own wrist tightened when he felt it—the ghost of a kiss, a tear, and a soft voice echoed painfully in his head.

_“Chanyeol-ah, I’m sorry.”_

Chanyeol snapped out of his dreadful reverie, sweat dripped from his head, sliding on his face as he tried to catch his breath again.

“Nononono…Baekhyun please hold on there.” He fished out his phone and dialled Sehun’s number as fast as he could.

“Sehun, the abandoned building at the other end of the road. Get all of the team there. Call for backup. Now!”

He grabbed his sidearm; a K5. He checked the magazine, noting that it was still pretty much full—light and compact as it was, he had never had to use a sidearm before, not until today. He made sure to check everything was perfect before he took a step into the abandoned building.

***

Baekhyun panted, hand clutching on his injured arm desperately. Yibo managed to find him not long after the count was done. He managed to escape from his grip but wasn’t fast enough to avoid the knife. His feet were screaming for a break; he had been running for half an hour already, mapping every inch of the room in this abandoned building despite the dark blanketing the place.

He held his breath when he heard the hushed footsteps getting near to him.

“Hyung? Are you here?” Yibo’s eerie voice resonated across the wide room.

Baekhyun stayed still behind the large black closet. He was hidden in the dark but should he be found here, he wouldn’t have a place to run. He was pretty much in a dead end, stuck in the corner as he prayed for his life.

“You’re so good at playing this game, hyung. I almost thought I had you just now,” Yibo called out again. The knife, still wet from Baekhyun’s blood, was swirled around by his long fingers. He was about to walk closer to the closet that could have seen better days, at the corner of the room when he heard the sound of the safety lock being pulled off and the slide against the barrel echoed faintly in the dark. Yibo’s lips twisted into a sick smile as he turned his body around.

“Drop your weapon and put your hands up, _Wang Yibo_ ,” Chanyeol commanded. The gun in his grip was cocked toward the man who was now glinting at him almost maniacally. “Drop your weapon, Yibo,” he repeated when Yibo didn’t make any move to do what he was told.

“Or what? You’re going to shoot me to death and close the case like they all did back then?” Yibo hollered, there was a spite in his words and grief in his eyes.

“I know what happened to your soulmate.” Chanyeol still had his arms stretched with the gun in his firm grip, the target locked on Yibo who was sniggering at what he heard. “Both of you did not deserve what had happened. Justice should have been served accordingly,” he continued. “But enforcing your own law and killing people was not right, Yibo.”

“I did what I have to do.”

Chanyeol’s eyes wandered around the room, hoping to find the slightest hints of Baekhyun’s whereabouts.

“Where is Baekhyun, Yibo?” Chanyeol asked as he carefully took a step closer.

Yibo shrugged. “I was searching for him as well. We were playing hide and seek before you come.”

Chanyeol took another step closer. “Do not lie to me.”

“Why would I lie?”

“Drop your weapon, Yibo.”

Yibo shrugged again, lips twisted into a smirk before he dropped the knife on the floor. Chanyeol eyed the knife and scanned the man’s body with his eyes for any possible hidden weapon.

“Kick it away.”

Yibo did, but it had Chanyeol momentarily distracted, long enough for Yibo to move forward and kick off the gun from his hold. Chanyeol was quick to use both his arms to block the second kick from Yibo. The third one came with a punch but Chanyeol managed to dodge both. They went at it several times, with Chanyeol managing to throw a few punches and kicks before they both ended up on the floor. Chanyeol tightened his grip on Yibo’s neck as he had the other man locked beneath his bigger build.

“Tell me where Baekhyun is!”

Yibo’s busted lips pulled into a smirk despite the struggle. His free hand got a hold of his abandoned knife and he used the blunt end to knock on the detective’s head. It didn’t inflict any wound but just enough to get Chanyeol off him. The detective rolled off him with a groan, hand clutching on the side of his head. There was a ringing in his head and he tried to shake it off but wasn’t fast enough to dodge the kick coming from Yibo.

Chanyeol fell on his back on the floor. He opened his eyes to Yibo pulling the knife up in the air, high enough to give a deep wound when the knife met his flesh. Chanyeol was preparing to dodge the knife when another figure threw themselves on Yibo, both of them rolled off the ground with a loud thud.

“Baekhyun!”

Chanyeol scrambled to find his gun and when he did, he pulled the slide against the barrel and aimed for the man still thrashing around on the floor. His heart skipped a beat when he heard groans and painful yelps that he recognized. He couldn’t get a perfect aim because of the movements.

“Baekhyun, let him go!!” he shouted. He saw Baekhyun push Yibo just as Chanyeol pulled the trigger and shot his gun. The loud sound of the gunshot echoed in the empty building. Chanyeol quickly kept his K5 back to its place on his hip before he rushed to cuff Yibo’s hands. The younger man was groaning, blood spreading on his shirt. Chanyeol had made sure not to hit any of his vital organs. He was about to pull Yibo up when he noticed that his body shook with laughter. How could he have laughed at times like this?

“You were late, officer,” Yibo spat despite struggling with his handcuffed hands.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened at the sudden realization. He twisted his body around, facing his soulmate. Baekhyun was laying on the ground, body folded as he clutched on his bleeding stomach.

“Ch—Chanyeol,” Baekhyun grunted. His eyesight swayed when he tried to look up and search for his soulmate’s face.

Chanyeol said nothing, there was a clog in his throat that made it harder for him to even swallow as he fixed his gaze on the bleeding form of his own soulmate. He quickly took off his jacket and used it to press the wound, hoping it would be sufficient to stop the blood loss. He tried to fish out his phone, but the gadget kept on slipping off his wet hands. He was able to hide the tremors from escaping when he spoke.

“Get the medics up here. Fourth floor. Fifth room on your left from the stairs. A knife stab on the stomach. He’s losing a lot of blood, and the possibility of hitting the vital organ is high. Please hurry!” Chanyeol dropped the phone and shakily tried to press his jacket more on the wound.

“You’ll be fine, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said softly, tears dropping on his dirty cheek as he spoke with trembles in his voice. “We’ll get you out of here. You’ll be alright. I just need you to stay awake with me, okay?” Chanyeol didn’t know who he was trying to convince with his words, was it Baekhyun or him? The idea of losing his soulmate again made it harder for him to breathe.

“Please stay with me, Baekhyun. You have to.”

Chanyeol felt a thumb touching his cheek, wiping the tears of his face. He looked down at Baekhyun, a weak smile adorning his soulmate’s pale face.

“Pl—please, don—don’t cry. Yeol-ah.” Baekhyun forced himself to speak despite the blood filling up his mouth, he coughed them out.

“Hey hey hey, don’t speak. Don’t force yourself to speak. Save your energy okay. I know it hurts a lot right now, but we’ll make it better. The medics are on their way. We—”

“Chanyeol.” The said man stopped talking and fixed his gaze on Baekhyun’s dim eyes. The hand on his face, cupped his cheek, rubbing a shooting circle on it as if Baekhyun was trying to calm him down despite the pain he was in. Chanyeol could see Baekhyun struggling to keep himself awake.

“Baekhyun, you need to stay awake baby. Please, stay awake for me.” Chanyeol watched as the smile on his soulmate’s pale face slowly fell before his beautiful eyes slowly faltered to close.

“Baekhyun? Baby, please answer me.” Chanyeol quickly cupped his soulmate’s face in between his bloody hands. There was no response from Baekhyun’s limp body and Chanyeol choked on his own tears as he gathered his soulmate in his embrace and hid his face in the crook of the other’s neck.

“Baby, please. Please, come back to me,” he sobbed, rocking their bodies together as he tried to feel any bits of warmth; any source of life in Baekhyun.

“Chanyeol hyung!” Sehun rushed in with the medics in tow. He had been trying to find them but the building was too big and too dark for them to get there as soon as possible. He swallowed the heavy lump in his throat and crouched down beside the grieving senior detective.

“Hyung, you need to let him go. Let the medics do their job.”

It took everything in Sehun to separate Chanyeol from the lifeless body of his soulmate, and even more to get the man to leave the building as they strolled both of the injured men out of the abandoned building, with Yibo handcuffed to his stroller.

  


***

**_Seoul;_ ** **December 30** ** th  ** **, 2021**

Chanyeol stared idly at the streak of red on the thick layers of snow. The contrast on the colours pique his attention. He crouched down and picked the red streak. It was a ribbon, probably coming off from the kids playing in the park. He watched as the red ribbon swayed in his fingers, the winds blowing coldly against his face.

He was first, reminded of the blood covering his hands the night it all ended. He remembered his broken voice calling out his soulmate's name _—_ desperately clutching to his soulmate's warm body, hoping it won't turned cold under his hold. And then, the red ribbon reminded him of the red string of fate between soulmates, the one he had read from the many books he had studied about soulmates. He thought about how the soul mark in his wrist still shone in a beautiful pink hue, how he could feel the waves of emotions that his soulmate would feel if he tried hard enough when he touched the mark.

He was so deep in his own thoughts when a snowball hit the back of his head rather harshly. Chanyeol groaned as he rubbed his head to soothe the pain from the blow. He turned around, catching the culprit just as another snowball went flying and landed right on his chest. His mouth dropped in disbelief at what the other had just done.

“D—did you just??” He struggled with his words.

“Throw those snowballs at you? Yes, I did. It seemed fun,” the culprit said with a beam on his face. The giggles that came afterward contained too much happiness in it that Chanyeol’s face softened for a bit, that was before another snowball fell directly on his face.

Chanyeol wiped the snow off his now wet face as he rose up from the ground. A big ball of snow was already in his hand.

“You better run, Byun Baekhyun. I’m not going to spare you at all!” he shouted before he ran after the midget who was still giggling and laughing as he ran from his soulmate. He managed to capture Baekhyun, and both of them stumbled on the snow. Chanyeol didn’t waste any time to lock Baekhyun’s body with his arms and his legs. His soulmate whined.

“Ahhh, Yeol. You’re making our pants wet! My underwear is wet now!”

Chanyeol chuckled at the whiny ball of fluff in his embrace.

“It’s okay, you’re going to take them off later anyway,” Chanyeol replied cheekily.

The red spreading on Baekhyun’s face as he blushed was enough to make Chanyeol feel giddy. He loved it whenever he was able to make his soulmate blush; it was his favourite view.

“Yah, Yeol-ah! How could you say that out loud in public? Have you no shame? Wahhhh,” Baekhyun sputtered loudly as he trashed around in Chanyeol’s hold.

“Baekhyun, stay still. I need to make my snowman.” Chanyeol’s smile was wide when he placed the snowball he had made on top of the other’s head. His body shook with laughter as he slapped the ground, truly enjoying the dumb sight of Baekhyun looking at him with his unamused face and a big snowball on his head.

“Yeol, get off me. You feel like a giant vibrator laughing like that!”

That did nothing to help stop the laughter bubbling out of Chanyeol’s mouth. He embraced Baekhyun from behind and inhaled the faint smell of strawberry fragrant on his soulmate.

“I love you, soulmate,” Chanyeol whispered softly into the other ears. Baekhyun twisted his body around and leaned up to peck on Chanyeol’s full lips.

“I love you too, soulmate.”

_I repeat to myself, was I born for you_

_I talk such words to myself_

_It's not easy for me to say I love you_

_By your side, looking at your lips_

_I want to bear my life for real_

_I'll be yours, baby_

**_—Yours; Chanyeol x Raiden_ **

**_—_ ** fin ** _—_**


End file.
